#autumn is the best season for this to happen so I have high hopes

[scorpioriesling]

Enchanted

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Pairing(s): Rhysand x reader

Warnings: fluff

Summary: Every birthday girl makes a wish... yours has been the same for years. One you began to doubt would ever come true; but what happens when it does?

SR’s Note: I am honestly giggling and kicking my feet over this one, and lately Rhys hasn't even been my favorite... I don't care. I like how this turned out. Based on Enchanted by Taylor Swift, of course. Enjoy (:

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Everything about the final day of Autumn was as it usually was; the cool sun bathing the Velaris cobblestone in light, the crisp breeze ruffling your hair, causing you to pull your cloak tighter around your shoulders. Even the townsfolk presented the same familiar faces you’d seen nearly every day now on your way to the public library.

Today was a treat; the day before your birthday, of course. The first day of the Winter season would mark the day of your birth, and usually you’d spend the day before spoiling yourself as you’d usually end up having to work on said birthday. This year, it was no different.

That is, before two large Illyrian warriors donning seven gleaming siphons each landed right in the middle of the square, their enormous bat wings spread wide. The townspeople, as well as yourself, whirled in shock at the sight. After straightening, the taller one (Cassian? You thought?) cleared his throat.

“Greetings, Velaris,” he said, voice echoing down every corridor and alleyway around you. Every wide-eyed fae stared back in awe as he looked from person to person.

“As you know, the High Lord will be having his annual Winter Ball tomorrow evening,” he continued. You’d known; it was an annual tradition. One you’d always ended up working as the bakery your parents owned supplied the delicacies for the event.

“…andddd this year, the High Lord has made it very clear that the celebration is to be extended.” He coughs. Gasps and murmurs begin around you, and you glance side to side as chatter begins.

“The ballroom cannot accommodate all of Velaris; so only a select few will be receiving invitations.” The spymaster calmly cuts in, and the chattering crowd around you stops. All eyes return to the pair in the middle of the street.

“The festivities are to be celebrated here in the city, though, should you not attend the ball,” Cassian fumbles. His brother raises his eyebrows, releasing a breath and gazing at the crowd once more.

“If you’re to be invited; you should expect to receive an invitation in your mailbox by this afternoon.”

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You practically jumped on the mail man when he approached your drive, scaring him half to death as his letters tumbled from his hands.

“I’m so sorry! I’m, um… just, really hoping something came for me today.” You laugh sheepishly as he thrusts a pile of letters into your hands.

“Yeah, you and every other female in Velaris.” He continues on his route with a hmmph, and you begin anxiously thumbing through the letters.

You almost trip when you finally make it back into your small flat, sitting at the kitchen table. Your hand shakes as you get to the last envelope in the pile, only one elegant word written across the front of it.

Y/N.

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“I don’t know if that’s the right… I don’t know, color?” Your best friend eyes you in the mirror, and you twist to one side, meeting her eyes in the mirror.

“Maybe not. I don’t know, it’s just not quite… right.” She says, the statement only a repetition of how your morning’s been going. You’ve spent the entire morning trying to find a gown for the ball tonight, but every single one you’ve tried just isn’t quite… the one.

You let out a frustrated sigh, and your friend / shop owner flits toward a wall of dresses, brushing through them once more.

“I feel like I’ve tried on a million,” you say. She returns just a moment later, a lovely steel silver gown in hand. You raise your brows at her.

“Yes, but, it’d be dress one million and one that might catch the High Lord’s attention.” You can’t help but blush, turning from her. It was no secret you found the High Lord of the Night Court quite intriguing; Gods, half of Prythian did.

She tsked at you and shooed you towards the dressing chamber, only for you to reappear a moment later in the gown. She didn’t hide back the gasp, or stunned expression on her face as you approached the mirror to look yourself.

“Oh come now, it can’t be…” But, it was. Seeing it in the reflection, you understood her reaction a little more. You were breathtaking; this one. It had to be this one.

You spend a good few minutes twirling, admiring the gown hugging you in all the right places. You finally glance down at the price tag, and your heart sinks. It was way too expensive.

“I don’t think I can…” You say. Your friend shakes her head, leading you back to the dressing room to change.

“Nonsense.” She says. You stare at her, a blank expression on your face.

“I can’t afford it.” You say. She only winks at you before shutting the chamber curtain, allowing you privacy.

“Consider it a birthday gift!”

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You'd never been to one of these before; not coming from a wealthy family, or even being High Fae yourself, there was never any reason to attend such an event held by Night Court royalty.

Yet, here you stood. In front of the polished black gate, separating you from the awaiting festivities inside.

"Uhh.. miss?" You turn, to see another guest had silently approached at your side. "Are you going in?"

You nod. "Yes! Yes, I'm sorry if I held you up-" He shakes his head, a small smile offerred to you as the gates open and he steps beyond. He looks over his shoulder to you.

"No worries... but, I think it's beginning soon?" You hear the groaning of the iron bars and quickly step inside, keeping in step with this new aquiantence. You politely converse until you've reached the main building, and females in lovely gowns pass by you. You nervously look around; maybe you should've prepared better for this.

"I'll see you around," with a small wave, your company stalks off toward a group of males he seems to know. You sigh, taking in the beauty around you. The gleaming faelights, all of the attendees meandering around you, the scent of jasmine in the air-

"I personally want to thank you all for your attendance tonight," you hear, and the room is instantly filled with silence. All eyes are peering toward the front of the room, and the crowd shuffles together to hear the speaker more clearly. You try and get a good look, but you can't really see over everyone's heads.

"I haven't had one of these events in a while where I get to invite our court's friends to join us, and as this marks the first night of Winter," the voice drawls. It sounds lovely, as though it was coming from a cello - deep and smooth. Not like the sounds from Azriel or Cassian, but this one was much different.

"...we are very happy you're all here. So, let the dancing commence!" And with that, the crowd is in a frenzy, chattering and partnering off for the first dance of the evening. Your cheeks heat in embarassment as you realize you have no one to dance with, and you recede towards the stone wall to hide in the shadows for this one. You feel a light hand on your elbow, and you whirl around to come face-to-face with the kind male from earlier.

"I don't have a partner either..." He says, his cheeks flushing rosey-pink. You give him a soft smile, your embarassment fading with every passing second.

"I'd love to dance with you." You slide your hand into his and pull him to the middle of the crowd, just as the music begins. His hand rests on your lower back, the cold metal ring on his finger sending a chill up your spine. You suck in a breath as he pulls you closer to his chest.

"Is this... alright?" He asks. You nod, resting your free hand on his shoulder. Now that you're close to him, you get a better view of his face; his sharp jaw, auburn freckles dusting over his nose. His sultry amber eyes that match the flaming locks upon his head; he truly is beautiful.

But not the reason you came tonight.

He engages in polite conversation as you continue the waltz, asking you about yourself, laughing and making light jokes with you inbetween the spinning and dipping as the music intensifies. You laugh with him, appreciating him more and more by the minute. When he's turned you around, his back to the dias at the head of the room, you swear you meet those violet eyes, staring right back at you. Maybe you're just thinking wishfully, maybe... maybe he is just looking at everyone, but he looked irritated, besides the sweet sentiment he'd made before.

You have to look away, your partner realizing you're staring.

"Is, everything okay?" He politely asks you. You nod, reassuring him everything was. But it wasn't. You were living in this moment; the music, the liveliness of the room, the way you were pushed so close with this male's hand on your waist-

But it still wasn't who you wanted.

You wanted him.

His hands on you. Your body against him. His eyes looking into yours.

You felt like a fool for thinking that coming here would change anything for you.

"I, uhm," your partner fumbles for words to distract you. "I didn't catch your name?" He asks. You meet his gaze, smiling again at him. You knew the High Lord wouldn't need or want you, so you may as well make the most of your night while it lasts.

"Y/N," you reply. He grins.

"What a lovely name," he tucks a flyaway tendril of hair behind your ear, eyes catching when it is exposed. He immediately sees it is rounded; and shame courses through you again as you know he is High Fae.

He clears his throat. "What a beautiful name," he reiterates. "...for a beautiful girl." You can't help but blush at his words, this male is laying the flirting on you thick. Doing quite well at that, too.

"Why thank you," you say, voice feeling small. You didn't register that the song had already changed, your bodies abseltmindedly falling into rhythm as you continue to sway with the music.

"I should probably relieve you from me," he says, dipping his head and huffing a small smirk. "Had I known who you were, I would have let you dance with someone else. I'm sure Rhys will have my ass for this anyway," he concludes. You furrow a brow, as the song engages in the final chorus.

"Whatever do you mean?" You ask. He opens his mouth to answer, but clapping erupts and conversations get too loud around you. What was he even talking about? You'd never met the High Lord, not officially, anyway. Maybe in passing, but there was nothing there.

Suddenly the room feels too small, too warm, his hand on your back feels like fire and you feel like you are sweating. You could pass out, you just needed a minute to breathe and get out of this crowded room.

"I have to um," you shout, over the loud conversing around you. "I need a breath of air!" You say. He nods, and pulls you close, hands still holding yours.

"Do you want me to come with you?" He politely asks. You lean back, meeting his eyes and shake your head.

"I'll be fine!" You say loudly. He nods, and you lean up and kiss his cheek. "I'll find you later?" You say, and he grins at you. What a cutie.

You search for an exit, clammy hands brushing the sides of your skirts. You find an open doorway, and travel down a side hall that leads to an unmarked door. Chest tight, you open it -- revealing the most wonderful sight you've ever seen.

You step out onto the stone terrace, walking all the way to the railed edge to get the best view. You let out a gasp; you can see all of Velaris from here. Soft music echoes from beyond, and you watch as a single shooting star stretches across the sky.

"This is, my favorite place to see the whole city too." You turn abruptly, not realizing someone had followed you. You stare in shock as Rhysand leans against the open doorway, arms folded, and one ankle crossed over the other. You immediately get embarassed again, remembering this is his building and his terrace and you were out here without permission-

"No need to worry, darling." He strides over to you, and you feel a tiny tickling inside your head. Your fingers brush your temple on instinct, and you remember that he could in fact see what you were thinking.

"Enjoying the ball?" He asks, his silky tenor causing your attempt to clear your mind to fail. You huff, turning back to the city beyond. He puts his hands on the balcony railing next to you, one hand nearly brushing yours.

"Oh! Um... yes. Yes I have been." Your mind flashes to the dances you'd shared with the readhead, how he held you, and how you'd wished it was Rhys the whole time...

Clear your mind, Cauldron! He could easily see what you were thinking.

"That's... great." His sudden clipped tone had you side-eyeing him. The night seemed to radiate off of him, the onyx crown atop his head gleaming in the moonlight. He was definately intimidating, but you remembered what your new friend said. Did you even catch his name? No. You were too focused on the High Lord, though this other man was nothing but nice to you.

Cauldron, boil you.

"Can I ask you something?" You say. He angles his head to you, a small smirk pulling the corner of his lips up.

"You'd like to know why I asked you here tonight?" He answers. You gape at him, and he chuckles, the sound like soft rain outside an open window.

"How did you-" You begin, and he turns to you, a hand tracing his knucles down the side of your face. You flush at the contact, as this was something you'd only ever hope for in a dream.

"This... is something we can work on later." He looks at the top of your head, the idea of mind shielding grazing your brain.

Has he been inside your head this whole time?

You almost feel violated; if it was anyone but him, you'd tell them to leave you be. But... you couldn't. He was finally here, with you -- but, you can't help from a little bit of your attitude peeking through.

"If you wanted me here so damn bad, whatever the reason may be," you start, pulling back an inch from his touch. His brows raise in amusement. "Why were you pouting about in there? I didn't even see you dance once." You finish. His gaze softens, and his free hand brushes yours on the railing. The hand that once grazed your cheek is now gliding down your arm, tracing over every inch of exposed skin.

"The partner I wanted was already taken." He answers lowly. You don't miss the way his eyes darken a bit, and you bite the inside of your cheek hard to try and stop from freaking out and dissolving into a puddle right then and there.

"Well..." You begin, taking one step closer to him. The soft scent of sea salt and nectarines graces your nose -- of course, one of your favorites. His gaze stays locked on you, drinking in every inch of you with his eyes.

"I'm not now." You say, as confidently as you can muster. His lips twist, trying to supress the huge smile he eventually allows to take over his face. You can't help but smile back; his gorgeous features only more enticing up close. His hand slips around the curve of your waist, pulling you in closer. Your breath catches, as his other hand guides your idle ones to his neck.

"I've waited much too long for this," he says. You are sure you look like a tomato; there was no way he was fawning over you like this. The way you'd done, every night in your room; every day in Velaris, constant reminders of him all over the city; every year when you'd use your bithday wish just to see him, just once -- and there he would be, waltzing into your parents shop before the ball as if he wasn't reducing you to mush each time.

"I'm not very good," he admits with a small laugh. You don't know what the hell comes over you, but you don't allow him enough time to read your mind before the words are spilling out-

"I don't need good. I need you." You take the lead, swaying to the distant music from the walls beyond and streets below, and he only follows. Its his turn to feel flattered, as his hands gently trail up and down your waist. You try your best to keep from shaking in excitement; but it isn't long before you see another star flying across the sky. He glances in your line of sight, grinning and letting one hand go of you. He takes the gleaming onyx crown off his head, replacing it atop yours, tucked behind the brained crown near the top.

You stare at him wide eyed as he pulls your body flush with his, leaning in to whisper, "I'm enchanted to finally meet you," as his soft lips lightly graze the shell of your ear. You can't help but let out a small chuckle, not knowing if you are going to cry or not. You could; you'd only wished for this very thing for years and years.

"You truly are a princess," he drawls on, fingers tracing your jaw lightly. His gaze flicks to the star trailing across the sky, and back to you once more. "One that still needs to make her birthday wish."

Your hands play with the soft hair near the nape of his neck, eyes loving the way he practically wills your mouth to his. It's like there is a thread, a rope connecting the two of you, and he is using his end to pull you closer, closer...

He finally kisses you, softly cupping your jaw as your hands slide down his chest. Pressed against him like this, that rope feels more like a threat tied so tight, golden aura coming from deep within you at the scene around you. He slowly pulls back, eyes searching yours for reassurance. You only reach up and swipe a tear away from his cheek, the new feeling connecting the two of you reassurance enough.

"I don't have one this year; it has already come true."

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[macaulaytwins]

if I can’t consume the book with a voracious intensity and have the book consume me back then I don’t want it

[aflame4goinghome]

‘Who ever loved that loved not at first sight?’

d.r.w. x reader

summary: on your day off, you come across a handsome stranger at the park, reading a book. some force seems to gravitate you toward him, something that you cannot explain or control. perhaps fate?

word count: 3.5k

warnings: just some adorable meet-cute fluff for today, be prepared to be blushing and kicking your feet. smut may happen in part two if you guys enjoy this, so stay tuned xo

a/n: this idea came to me at 3 am while drifting off to sleep thinking about danny. i’m not much of a writer but i wanted to share the inspiration i had with you all. it's proofread but it might not be perfect. i hope that you enjoy it :)

You’re jolted awake by the sound of your blaring alarm clock, which was intentionally set that way in order to combat your bad habit of oversleeping. Choosing a job that required such early mornings was certainly not your preference, but it paid well and you actually quite enjoyed it. You never expected to find such joy in teaching, but starting to teach music lessons has become the best decision that you’ve ever made.

You had decided to move to Nashville 3 months ago from your hometown of Knoxville on the other side of the state, as it was still relatively close to home so you could easily go home for the holidays and visit your family. You stayed in your hometown to go to college there after high school, so these last few months have been your first experience with living on your own.

When you first moved here, you had picked up a waitressing job to pay your rent while you looked for more long-term jobs. Given that you had a bachelor’s degree in music theory, you knew that it wouldn’t be very hard to find a job that suited you in Nashville. This proved to be true, as you had found a flyer in a local coffee shop two weeks ago advertising that a music center close to your apartment was hiring a full-time guitar instructor.

Today, however, you actually got to sleep in. It’s finally the weekend and you can’t wait to finally relax and get some things done after a long first week at your new job. They had you teaching lessons from 9 am to 5 pm every day, Monday through Friday, with an hour lunch break halfway through. That isn’t typically seen as a very difficult shift, but this is the longest workday that you’ve ever had, given that you’ve only just graduated from college this past May.

You feel grateful for the opportunity to gain more work experience in your field, but you can’t deny that it’s been an exhausting first week. You plan to use your weekend off to get your errands done and have some much-deserved downtime.

You roll out of bed after scrolling on social media for a while and finally start to get ready for your day. You take a quick shower, brush your teeth, put on some makeup to make it look like you didn’t just wake up, and then tie your back into a long braid, leaving some front pieces out to frame your face. You return to your bedroom and change into some baggy jeans and a t-shirt, throw on your high-top Chuck Taylors, grab your keys, and head out for the day.

Early autumn in Nashville has proven to still be on the warmer side, but it’s just started to cool down a bit with a nice fall breeze, so you’ve been able to bring out a bit of a cozier wardrobe lately. Fall is your favorite season and you plan to take full advantage of your weekend off by spending it outside.

Your first stop for the day is your favorite coffee shop in Nashville, a little locally-owned café in Midtown. You say hello to your favorite barista and order a hot dirty chai and a chocolate croissant. You sit down at your favorite table outside and enjoy the surroundings and your coffee. After you’re finished, you decide that it’s such a nice day that it wouldn’t hurt to delay your errands in favor of a nice walk through Centennial Park. The wind is blowing lightly and it’s actually quite cool outside, so you stop by your car to grab your cardigan before heading into the park.

You walk up to the park and start walking down a beautiful, winding trail past the small lake. The wind is still blowing subtly, making tiny waves along the surface of the water. You continue, taking a deep breath as you smile to yourself about how lovely the atmosphere is.

As you approach a fork in the path and take the one on the right, you pass a small patch of grass where you find a man lounging underneath a large oak tree. He has laid out a blanket and is lying down on his side, holding himself up with one arm while reading a book.

The man is seemingly tall, which you can tell even while he is lying down just by looking at his long legs and torso. He has dark, shoulder-length curly hair and deep chestnut eyes. He’s wearing a tight, mock-neck tee and dark black jeans with rips on the knees, paired with a simple small chain around his neck and a pair of Nike blazers. You can’t help but find yourself staying to watch him read for a moment. You see him smile as something in his book makes him laugh to himself.

It feels as if something is pulling you toward him, some unknown force making you unable to look away or continue on your path. You’re unsure of what it is, but you decide that you should act on it. As you start to approach him, he notices your presence and looks up at you. He studies you for a few seconds as you near closer to him.

“Hi,” he says, smiling. “Hi,” you reply. You just look at him for a moment, unsure of what to say next that will justify your approaching him, before asking, “What are you reading?” His face lights up at the question like he had been waiting for someone to ask. It seems to be something that he’s passionate about, which interests you.

He slides his bookmark inside onto the page that he was reading, closes the book, and turns the cover toward you to show it to you. “It’s ‘As You Like It,” he says, looking up at you as you tower above him just a few feet away. “Ah, Shakespeare…” you answer awkwardly, looking down as your eyes move from him to the empty spot on the blanket next to him, “May I sit?” He nods, grinning and looking at you with a look that you can’t quite decipher.

You sit cross-legged on the blanket across from him and smile back at him. “Danny,” he says, reaching out his hand to shake yours. You take his hand and answer. “Y/N,” you reply. “I read that one not long ago,” you continue, “I really enjoyed it. The love that those two share is different from many other plays of his. I like that about it.”

“Yeah! That’s what I like about it too. There are so many plays about love at first sight but this one is different. Most of his plays portray it as only physical attraction that causes love at first sight, but Orlando’s love for Rosalind is so much more than that.” His smile has grown now, happy to be talking to someone who understands his love for this type of literature. He continues, saying “There’s a lot of plays that involve disguising oneself as the opposite sex, but in this play, it proves that their connection goes beyond the idea of physical appearance. Orlando bonds with Rosalind even when she is disguised as Ganymede because he loves more than just her beauty.” You nod your head, agreeing with him.

“What act are you in now?” you ask. “Act Three,” he says, opening the book back up and handing it to you to show you his place. “Oh, this is when it starts to get good! This is my favorite part of the play, in Act Three Scene Two.” You turn back a few pages to find the excerpt that you love, pointing to it and reading it aloud to him:

Nature presently distilled Helen’s cheek, but not her heart; Cleopatra’s majesty; Atalanta’s better part; Sad Lucretia’s modesty. Thus Rosalind of many parts by heavenly synod was devised; Of many faces, eyes, and hearts, to have the touches dearest prized. Heaven would that she these gifts should have, and I to live and die her slave.

After you finish, you look up from the book to find Danny’s eyes trained on you. You feel your cheeks flush and you know that you must be a shade of pink by now. You continue, trying not to let it get to you, saying “Orlando’s poems contain so much more meaning than any other confessions of love in other plays, in my opinion. He feels as though God himself crafted Rosalind with the best features a woman could possess, not only beauty but also a pure heart. He believes that fate has brought them together, that he is destined to be with her and will do anything for her.”

He nods in agreement and chimes in, asking “Do you believe in that kind of stuff? Fate? Destiny?” while gazing at you, looking like he’s trying to read your mind. He doesn’t need to, though. You feel compelled to be open with him, although you’re unsure why. He’s a stranger, whom you’ve just not long ago, but something makes you want to talk to him for hours.

You gaze down at your hands in your lap, fidgeting with your fingers to distract yourself from how nervous you suddenly feel. “Yeah, I think so. I try to be in tune with the universe and its intentions for me as much as I can. If I feel like it’s trying to tell me something, I’ll always listen to it.” You pause for a moment before deciding to follow through with your next thought. “That’s kind of why I’m here, actually,” you say, glancing up from your lap to look at him.

He looks slightly confused by this answer, so you continue, saying “I was just walking through the park when I saw you sitting here and, I’m not sure why, but something made me feel like I had to approach you. It was like I was led here for a reason or something like that. I know that might sound crazy…,” feeling slightly embarrassed by your confession. “No! No, not at all! I understand what you mean. I had this feeling in my chest from the second you walked up to me. Seeing you felt almost natural. Like I already knew you somehow, but I didn’t,” he reassures you. The idea still perplexed you, however. You’ve trusted the universe every time before, but you still can’t place why it wanted you to come and talk to Danny.

“Do you?” you ask, meeting his eyes with yours, “Y’know, believe in fate and all that stuff?” He smiles, “Yes, I do. I like the idea of being able to trust that there’s someone out there that’s meant for me. It might be a bit silly or naïve, but it’s comforting for me. I think that when you find that person, you just… know.”

There’s some comfortable silence for a moment as you start to study his face. Danny truly was beautiful. His face was sun-kissed, his cheeks peppered with freckles, and a smile that could brighten up a whole room. You’re lost in thought as he breaks the silence. “What do you think the reason is?” he asks, slightly bashfully. “Why do you think the universe pulled you over to me?” He looks at you longingly, as though your answer will be life or death. You’re not sure what to say, but you try to answer him, nonetheless.

“I’m not sure,” you start. “I think that’s for us to decide. Fate is a force that holds us all together, but it can’t answer everything. I do know that I’m really happy I listened… What do you think?” You blush slightly after you finish and then look at him, waiting for his answer. You’re not sure what you’re expecting, but you have a feeling of hope in your chest.

“I think…” he says, tucking some of your hair that’s fallen out of your braid behind your ear, “that the universe decided to introduce me to an intelligent and breathtakingly beautiful girl.” He brings his hand down from your hair and places his hand on your knee, stroking his thumb ever so slightly intermittently. “And I think that I’d be an idiot to not take that as some sort of sign.”

You look up at him and smile, feeling flattered by his honesty. You place your hand on top of his, in the same spot on your knee. “I think so too,” you say. He takes your hand in his and brings it up to his mouth, softly kissing your knuckles. You sit there in silence once again, with an aura of contentment filling it.

He speaks again, still holding your hand in his. “This really made my day, in more ways than one. I’ve never had anyone to talk about Shakespeare with before. As much as I love my friends and enjoy talking to them about our common interests, like music, they all think that Shakespeare is boring. But Sam hasn’t opened a single book since we graduated high school, Josh only reads books on meditation, and all Jake ever wants to read is pirate novels, so what the hell do they know anyway?” he says, laughing to himself about the joke he just made. His laughter makes you smile wide.

“Well, I’m glad I could help. It’s been great talking to you. I’m gonna be honest, I haven’t really made any friends since moving here three months ago, so this felt nice. Since July, the only people I’ve talked to are the barista at the coffee shop down the road, my mailman, and my mom on Facetime.” You laugh to yourself, realizing how pathetic that might sound after saying it out loud.

He doesn’t care, though, and says “Hey, that’s okay! If I hadn’t moved here with my buddies, I’m sure it would’ve taken me a while to make some friends too. I lucked out there. You just have to put yourself out there, like you did today. Now you can say that you have one friend in Nashville.” This made you feel a bit better.

“So, friend, tell me about yourself. What brought you to Nashville?” he asks.  You smile at the way he says “friend;” his charm is certainly not lost on you. You’re sitting closer now, unintentionally. Ever since Danny had made the first move to touch you, all bets were off and you practically melted into his touch.

Your knees fell on top of his legs as he held your hand, rubbing slow circles on the top of it. “Well, I just graduated from the University of Tennessee in Knoxville this past May. I studied music theory, so I thought that Nashville would be the perfect place for me. So far, it seems like it is. So I think I’m finally starting to find my way.” He smiles at you; it seems like something you said struck a chord with him.

“A music lover? Another thing we seem to have in common. Do you play any instruments?” he asks. “Yeah, I play guitar the most, I just started a job teaching guitar lessons to kids. I also sometimes play piano, but I’m not as good at it,” you laugh. He replies, “That’s fantastic. I play guitar too, but I mostly stick to the drums. I can play a bit of piano as well, but not nearly as well as my best friend Sam. He’s a fucking prodigy.” He smiles at that statement; he clearly admires his best friend a lot. “We’ll have to take more about guitar, then. I’d love to show you my baby,” you say with a smile. “How about you, Mr. Mystery? What are you doing in Nashville?”

“Well, I grew up in Michigan, not far from Detroit. I met my friends while in school: Sam, Josh, and Jake. They’re brothers, Josh and Jake are twins, two years older than me, and Sam and I were in the same year. Sam has been my best friend for as long as I can remember. They’re all practically brothers to me,” he says. You can tell how much he cares for them by the way he talks about them, making you want to meet them someday.

“They always liked to make music, especially Jake, but one day in high school they asked me to play the drums in their band. I really didn’t think we would take off the way we did, but somehow our local gigs became bigger ones, then they turned into opening gigs, our EP won a Grammy and the rest is history. We stayed in Michigan for a while and we tried LA, but a few years ago we decided on Nash and we’ve been here ever since.”

You’re completely in awe. What are the chances that you’d stumble upon a handsome rockstar while on your walk through the park? It really shouldn’t surprise you; now that you think about it, he very much gave off the cool rockstar vibe. “So, what, are you like, famous?” you say with a smirk, teasing him a bit. You can tell that the confession made him nervous, unsure of what you might think of him after finding out what he does for a living.

“Maybe I am,” he answers, dripping in charm once again. “Well, rockstar, if you’re so famous, then what are you doing here, reading Shakespeare in a park and talking to a nobody like me on a Saturday afternoon?” This makes him laugh, which was your goal. Despite only having just met him, you want him to feel comfortable with you. “We’re on a break in our tour right now before our European leg, so I’m just trying to enjoy the downtime while I still can,” he explains. There’s some comfortable silence once again.

“Do you wanna know my favorite line from As You Like It?” Danny asks. You nod, and he continues. “Who ever loved that loved not at first sight?” He looks at you with what you think is a spark of desire in his eyes, though you shake that thought off immediately. You giggle and ask, “And why is that?”

“Because it reinforces the idea of fate. She’s saying that the truest kind of love is love at first sight. And I think I’m starting to understand why,” he says, leaning in toward you a little more and donning a smirk that makes you feel like you could just melt into a puddle right there. “Yeah, I think I understand too…” you reply.

He looks into your eyes and you stare back into the glow of his, almost amber in the light of the sun. I could stay here forever, you think to yourself. He shifts his gaze from your eyes down to your lips, then returns his eyes to you and asks, “Can I kiss you?” You nod and his hand cups your cheek, finally leaning in to close the space between you.

His lips are soft and warm, making you feel safe. The kiss is soft at first, you can feel the amount of love and kindness that his soul emits as if he’s passing it over to you and soothing any anxiety you might feel. You place your hand on the back of his head, deepening the kiss. You can feel the lust and passion flowing out of him through you, making you start to feel slightly light-headed. It was unlike any kiss you’d ever experienced before.

Danny pulls away from the kiss and caresses your cheek, holding his forehead to yours. “You are… everything I’ve been waiting for,” he says. You smile, running your fingers through his curls. You’re in awe of how beautiful he truly is. Destiny had been kind to you, it seems. You can already feel as though you were fated to meet here, today.

He looks up to see the impending sunset and checks his watch, realizing that the two of you had been sitting there talking much longer than he had thought. You watch him as he stands up and reaches out his hand to help you up. He picks up the blanket and folds it over itself a few times then tucks it under his arm.

He cups both of your cheeks with his hands and places another small peck on your lips, smiles, and says “Can I take you out? Tonight?” You laugh, “Hmm, let me check my schedule…” you joke, knowing that you have nowhere else to be, but still wanting to keep him on his toes. I guess my errands will have to wait, you think to yourself.

You both start to head out of the park toward where you parked your car, as he takes your hand in his and squeezes it tight. “Oh, shut up, you know you want nothing more than for me to take you out to dinner,” he jokes back, laughing. “You might be right,” you say, “And I might want more than just dinner…” You look up at him with a smirk, and he looks back at you with that look of lust that you’ve already seemed to make yourself familiar with.

It’s going to be a long night, isn’t it?

The End

[popcornforone]

Smash & Nash

A Spooky Season Max Phillips Fan Fic

I know you could say all Max P fics are for spooky season but this one was written especially for it. & considering where I was with this in the 22nd I’m amazed it’s now published. I’ve done good.

Synopsis: Max & You have agreed your turning date, & the day before your mortal wedding you decide to head to fair with attractions & seasonal spooky things. However Max is the one who is having doubt about your arrangement.

Word Count: 4800

Warnings: DO NOT READ IF YOU ARE UNDER 18! Max is a vampire so blood, mentions of death & turning & other vampire lore, piv sex, in public sex, outdoors sex, fingering, drinking while having sex, swearing, being competitive, being angry, hypnosis, manipulation, mentions of oral. Established relationship. Competitiveness

Thanks as always for reading peoples. All feedback is appreciated. Enjoy everyone.

“Step right up to the world famous pumpkin smash, it’s just like a coconut shy but we make pumpkin pie with the smashed pumpkins for the homeless shelter” That’s all it takes. He grips you hand & smiles. A bright white seductive smile.

“Seriously?” You ask as you roll your eyes. “You want to smash pumpkins?”

“Yes I do my forever…” He knows he’s got to charm you into allowing him to do this, he slowly drags his fangs along the back of your hand before he kisses it, threatening you with a potential early feed if he doesn’t get his way. The devil is always in his eyes but tonight the night before Halloween he’s even more mischievous.”I promise not to cheat”

“Urgh alright, fair fight?” You tut. Max is more competitive than you, that’s why you feel for him but being a vampire gave him added advantages. You like him to show off when it’s for your collective benefits but when you’re against each other it gets a bit tedious.

“Always a fair fight my love, ha what does she take me for?” He jokes to the attendant & the man running the game hands you both over 5 balls to smash the pumpkins with.

“If we do this, I get to pick the next thing we do at this autumn fest?” You raise an eyebrow in hope of Max agreement.

This is meant to be your night. The last days of autumn, the clocks have changed. The nights are cold & long & the leaves have all but finished falling. This time next year, if you come to this event, you will be like Max, a creature of the undead. A vampire looking for prey. You’ve agreed on your turning date it’s on November 17th. You will awaken from your transformation & be a creature of the night on your actual birthday of November 30th should everything go to plan.

“Agreed”Max says as he watches your small hands grasp a ball ready to throw. He likes how small your hands are when they stroke his cock, & he is so looking forward for that to now happen for eternity. You are his forever he has been searching for, for over 300 years, which in vampire time is not long. But his last two potential vampire brides died during transformation. He’s taking no risks this time. He’s doing it all properly & is making sure you are the one. So far nothing has gone against either of you it’s all on track & tomorrow at the Halloween feast you attend you will legally become his wife in the eyes of the mortal world.

You eye each other up. Competitive senses at a high. Most pumpkins smashed is the aim of the game & Max being a gentleman lets you go first. The vampire after centuries has still remembered his manners. As the first hit splatters a pumpkin everywhere covering the guy running the stall, you are so proud of yourself. Your pride is wiped away when you see the look on Max face. He’s trying to work out what’s best for him to do.

Easily let you win?

Take you on at his least competitive?

Cheat?

Use his powers?

He’s contemplating them all.

But then he looks at your face. Max the over thinker he can just about in your mind. He shakes his head trying to get out of it, his head conflicted. He’s brought back to the noise & the smells of the fair as you hold his arm.

“Maxie, it doesn’t matter who wins, this is for fun, it’s for charity, if you want to show off do it but I won’t be upset if you beat me” you softly say to him before kissing his cheek. Your lips are still so alive. Your kisses will still feel as good when you’re a vampire, but some of the warmth & the rush of blood will disappear.

“You sure my forever” he nuzzels his nose against yours. The temptation to bite down hard on his bottom lip is difficult to resist but you do.

“Always baby” your right hand trails down his back soothing him as he grabs his first ball to throw. As he does you smack his arse causing his ball to go nowhere near any pumpkin.

“Cheat!” He shouts & holds you close his eyes enraged, starting to show some red flecks in them. You laugh & then do a little mocking strop.

“Oooh im Max Phillips, I’m the only one who can cheat & get away with it” you also hiss at the end, which make Max hiss back & then you hiss more.

“Your hissing is making excellent progress” Max says as you then both continue taking it in turns to smash the pumpkins, each ball by you both taking one completely out & causing a mess.

“You think so?” You reply with a smile, proud he’s noticed. He said you sounded like a stick insect when you started it.

“Only time will tell.” Max chirps as he throws his last ball that takes out the final pumpkin. You high five each other & he pulls you in close for a hug. It doesn’t matter that you both have countless layers on & it’s getting cold, Max can still feel the warmth radiating from you. His nice little snack. He will need to find a new permanent source of food for you both soon.

You hold Max hand as you look at a few things & then you excitedly screech.

“They have a ghost train Max” you scream in excitement.

“Whats a ghost train?” You look dumbfounded.

“You are 364 years old & you have never ever been on a ghost train?” There’s a reason why he’s waited to turn you, he wants you to immortally be the same age he was when he was turned forever at almost 32 years old. That way you won’t look like an odd couple together. You have been dating him for the last 4 years, & he asked you to be his forever in your 30th birthday. This is all so right for you both, but the fact he’s never been on a ghost train does bother you a little.

“I don’t see what all the fuss is about” he says as you drag him across to it. “I mean…”

“If you say ghosts aren’t real I’m calling bullshit..” you sternly say which shuts him up a little.

“Fair enough”

“Come on Max you promised I could do whatever I wanted next baby please, can we do this?”

Max huffs “alright, alright, fine” this is a well organised event but this ghost train is not one from Disney or a fright night kind of thing. But you can see from some peoples faces that they’ve had a few jump scares as they get off the ride.

The ride attendant takes you tokens & straps you into a carriage.

“Welcome to the ghouls of gore” they state they are dressed as a werewolf. “Where mortals scream & the undead devour” Max raises an eyebrow at them.

“We will be the judge of that” Max cockily replies. You instantly lock your arms with him. You’re not scared but you want to feel as close to Max as possible while he probably sits there & goes ahhh that’s not how a zombie looks critiquing it. Also his slower heartbeat, as you feel his icy skin, is always calming. Many a night have you fallen asleep to his one beat every 5 seconds pulse. It’s just enough to keep him alive. “You okay?” He asks as you look at each other. He looks concerned which you think is for you.

“I’m with you Max, of course I am” & with that the ride starts. It flys through various rooms, Actors leap out, the ride drops, the statues are spooky & the score send chills down your spine. You’ve been on scarier ghost trains but this is pretty good for what you have paid. You let out a few genuine screams as well as some because you know you should. But Max sits next to you almost in silence. It’s only when the ride ends that you look at him. He’s even whiter than he usually is. Something not right with your own creature of the night.

“Well” says the attendant “I’m guessing that worked” they joke looking at Max. He looks pale & spooked. As soon as he is released Max bolts & storms off. Something has been triggered in him.

“Thank you” you say to the ride person & you catch up with Max who’s storming off still not saying a word, he has no idea where he’s heading either, he’s in a strop. “Max slow down what’s up”

“Nothing” he snaps. Brushing you away.

“Maximums Victor Rodrick VanPhelt” that’s his full name back from when he was mortal. You saying that always means he’s in trouble. Picking Max Phillips is a much easier name for people. “Turn & face me” Max stops in his tracks his face is like thunder. But his bottom lip is quivering. He looks scared. “What’s wrong?” It’s a few seconds of silence, your own smile dropping before he speaks.

“What if I kill you?”

“What”

“I’ve tried twice before with who I thought was the one, both ended in death & pain, both put me off finding another forever. & now here you are, so calm about the process, so ready to accept your fate.” His eyes are watering & you both walk up to each other & embrace.

“Honestly Max, I’m a bit scared”

“Really” he now looks even more worried.

“But I’d rather risk it being turned immortal by you, then die old & you have to suffer the heartbreak when I’m 95” Max can sense the future, he has told you that he sees your mortal life ending a few years before your reaching 100 but it’s clouded it’s not set in stone.

“But what if”

“No Max stop, I want to be your forever be that be for the next 18 days after tonight or 30 years or 50 or 500, I’ve decided what I want & I want you, I want to be your vampire bride.” A single tear drips down Maxs face. Love isn’t often reciprocated for him.

“You love me, you completely love me?” he’s still uncertain. You had heard of the day before the wedding jitters but this is a new level of this.

“Yes! Forever yes! How can I prove this to you anymore than I already have” you reply, you caress his face. Your touch making him sigh. He has a small look around & then looks at the attraction to his left.

“Come with me” you are dragged to a little tent for the hall of mirrors. Neither of you have the tokens for this ride. Max reaches the attendant & hypnotises them. “We have the tokens you just don’t need to see them” & with that they let you in.

“Max?”

“Trust me”

After 3 corridors & him stuttering the cctv so it glitches out, he reaches a normal mirror & stands you in front of it. You look at your over sizes hoodie & big scarf, your ripped navy jeans & your blonde hair styled as a bob. Your black nail shine & fingerless gloves touch your outfit.

“What do you see?” He asks

“Your future wife” you reply.

“True…” he says “but I want to know that you see more than this” you look deeply into the mirror. You know what he’s asking you to see.

“I see me, a strong confident woman who knows what she want. No clothes define who I am & neither will time. I see a lost soul who then met the man of her dreams. I see the person I was & the person I will become.” You then see something & blink twice & then hold Max hand”… & I see us standing beside each other for eternity” max is a little choked by this. It’s the answer he hoped for.

“That’s very sweet…” but you interrupt him.

“No max I see your reflection…” Max steps back a little. Max can always see his slight reflection. It’s always delayed a little, & it foggy but he can always see himself enough to check he looks good.

“What?! That’s impossible I…”

“No max” you look up at him beaming & then back to the mirror. “When I held your hand I saw something shimmer in the mirror. Like there was something that moved quickly, almost a ghost but the more I squeeze your hand…” you hold it tighter”I can see it more, there’s something blurry in the mirror that I can see & it’s in the place where you should be” your own lip trembles. You can see your vampire staring back at you in the glass. Maybe your mind wanted to see it, maybe it wasn’t really there but you don’t care.

“Wow” with his other hand Max wipes a small tear away. “& you’re sure you’re not already a vampire?”

You laugh”no max otherwise you’d have died drinking me”

“True, it’s just no one’s ever mentioned my reflection before” Max is struggling to keep it together. He’s overwhelmed with emotion. “You see me for all I am worth & more” Max turns to face you before his lips meet yours. Always deep & passionately. His lust never dying down. It’s easy to fall for someone when they can kiss this good. The way you wrap your arms around him, one hand on his shoulder the other ruffling his hair.

“Always Max” you say as the kiss breaks. You bite his bottom lip as it ends. That’s code for wanting him. Max always wants you, but he didn’t just want to ask you for consent each time so you biting his lip makes sure he is aware you are in the mood. He eyes dilate & he hissed slightly.

“Okay?”

“Okay”

Max then has a quick look around.

“I’m not sure where though baby” he says as he walks you out the hall of mirrors.

“We could go home Max &…”

“No you want me now, I’m not wasting this opportunity” he rolls his eyes back into his head to use one of his vampire sense to see if there somewhere you could go or hide. It’s the one thing you don’t like him doing as a vampire, because you can’t see those dark caramel eyes. It’s only ever for a few seconds, but that’s always when you remember he’s not human. Even when he drinks from you, that feels more normal with that. “Ahhh” he snaps back into the now his eyes beaming back at you & the vacant empty face filled with a mischievous smile.

“You found somewhere”

“Yes” he grabs you by the hand, leaving the hall of mirrors & you start marching across the fair to the security hut & walk behind it. There’s a small table & a broken chair but it’s out the way & no one can see you.”we don’t need long baby I know what I want to do to you.” He’s kissing up your neck once you’re behind the hut. You’re already moaning as he licks at you & his hand undoes your belt on you jeans.

“Max what if…” but he raises an eyebrow

“Don’t worry I’ve cast some hypnosis on a few people as we got here to say stay away. Anyone who wants to interrupt, we can note for future feeds” his hand pull your jeans & knickers down to your knees as he pushes you hard against the hut wall.

“& the security?”

“Shhh baby you overthink too much” your hands are undoing his own trouser. It’s as you feel his briefs that two fingers slip inside you.

“Oooh Max” your eyes scrunch shut as the rhythm is fast, squelching noises coming from your sex within seconds. He has large hands & long fingers & with a vampiric speed he possesses he can have you cumming on his fingers in about 90seconds. The way his thumb pleasures your clit as well. It’s over stimulation for sure in the few minutes he works with his hand but oh does it feel good when he does this. “Max, fuck max” your neck is strained. His small kisses peppering each inch of it. You can feel him getting hand in his own underwear. & then he hits the spot & you scream.

“That’s it sweetheart, cum, cum for your vampire Prince.” Flecks of red fill his eyes. He’s lusting for more than just sex. That sets you off, drenching his finger, as you clamp & he pulls you into him to keep you on your feet. “Damn baby, you know how to make my heart beat almost normally”

“Max mmmmmm max” you just about get the word out. You eventually lean against the hut & remove the scarf while he frees his always impressive length from his briefs. Throbbing & leaking. “Max I want to give you the ultimate pleasure” you whisper into is ear as he swipes his penis over your entrance, a few stroke of it on your clit just to keep you at this level. He loves a tease.

“I thought you said that was for special occasions only” your hands leave Max & you remove your hoddie. Your neck & shoulder line almost looking as broad as him, because you always want to give him an opportunity to enjoy what he wants most.

“I did, tonight is that”

“What about our wedding night tomorrow?” He raises an eyebrow as he licks his lips, nudging further his tip almost ready to slip inside you.

“Max I plan on having a wedding week… oooh fuck”it’s time for your eyes to roll into the back of your head, your mouth wide open gasping for air, as in two ferocious thrusts, hes deep inside your cunt. Where his fingers have been long & got to that spot, he’s hit it already as you flutter around him instantly.

“Well as long as you say the magic words we agreed on I shall. God you’re super tight tonight” you wrap a leg around Max a better angle, as much as Max always pleasures you & has you gushing all over his cock, this just makes it even better.

“Be my Bitey Maxie, drink, please” the words splutter out of your mouth.

When you met Max & he revealed he was a vampire you swore no drinking of you during sex. Before it yes & much time afterwards of course but never during it. 6months in you let him sink his fangs into your thighs, the mixture of bloody & you collective juices made him ravenous. Over the next 3 years you have allowed him to have a small drink while he’s been buried inside you. Your blood tastes better & sweet at your climax he says & 3 months ago when you agreed your transformation date you allowed him to drink from your neck as he fucked you. The orgasm you had, had you walking awkwardly for a few days afterwards. It shook you to the core & you couldn’t stop thinking about the high & how close to possible death you could be. His fangs do heal but to drink from your neck while spilling inside you is his ultimate turn on but this is also something that you have agreed to do a few more times since. You enjoyed the rush a little too much.

“Mark me Max” you pant”I consent” your hips already move in time with his, a body so familiar, you can feel every inch of him, be it his hand on your arse or each pulse inside you, with his throbbing cock.

“Yes my bride” the brown from his eyes is all but gone. So black & wide with a red outline, he’s ready to feast. It always amazes you that his fangs slowly appear. You are curious as to why they aren’t always as prominent as when he’s about to feed. They mesmerise you every time. His hand as he plunders you rhythmically, grips around your chin to hold you in place, exaggerating your neck, he wants to pick the right vein. He loves kissing your neck & the little crook, Max does love kissing everywhere if he’s honest, but the pulse & flow if the blood there always makes him ravenous for more.

“I’m ready baby” you gasp.

“You think you are” there’s the devils smirk, his fangs white sparkling & dripping. He grazes them down your neck before he sinks them into his preferred feeding spot. He hit the soft spot inside you at that exact moment too. Your body already wanting to crumble at the intense pleasure.

“Fuck Max” a drawn out whimper escapes your mouth, pleasure filling your body. You can feel a small trickle down your shoulder as the fangs sink deeper into your flesh. The way his body pushes into you more so your flat against the wall. You’re grinding on his cock creating the frictions most of the time now. It’s easier todo when you sit or lie down, let alone be out in the open having sex. Your eyes when they do open from desire look up at the stars in the night sky.

Max is lapping at each drop, you’re the sweetest tonight he’s ever tasted you & that’s including when he once put sugar in everything you at to see how it effected the taste of your blood. Maybe it’s your connection & passion that makes you taste delicious. He feels guilty for drinking, at about his third slurp but you moan his name again & he remembers you consented to this & to everything that will follow. Your blood is also tasting warmer as you breathe heavier, it’s pumping through your veins. This is why this is a danger, one nip too many will see you off. But Max has recently agreed that if that were to happen that he would turn your straight away.

There you both stand wrapped around each other, experiencing pleasures that neither of you knew existed. The idea of someone catch you exhilarates you both, makes this session even harder & sexier. But Max powers would over throw & convince anyone that this was not what they saw. Two entangled bodies becoming one. As you moan you feel Max start to increase his pace again.

“Fuck, fuck oh god Max” every sense is tingling. Your body feels sexy & the way he is thrusting has you stuttering. He’s enjoying the way you taste, the way you feel, the way you are so desperate to satisfy him, sexually & as a feed. No one has every brought him to nirvana before, but right now as he can feel his own heart beat almost like it used to 300 odd years ago, he moans. His teeth sink deeper & you both gasp.

“Max…mmmm… Max… MAX!” You scream & let go of your desire. You clamp & soak him. It makes him pulse more & his teeth go even deeper & your body starts to convulse from overstimulation of everything. Your grip becomes less on him & he can sense this might be too much, but it’s also really turning him on. He’s so close. He wants to cum. One last sink of those teeth have you both hissing & he removes his fangs completely with the next thrust.

“Fuck” he growls spilling inside you, coating your walls. Making you go numb. An incredible high for him. But Max has mucked up. He’s not heeled your neck & your blood is still pumping faster than ever. It only takes him a few seconds to regain his sense but he then suddenly notices the white look on your face, slowly draining of colour & not just from the intense orgasm you’ve just had. Crimson is leaking from your neck.”oh fuck” in his fangs go again, to stem the flow. Their venom as he slowly withdraws them starts to heal you but he’s worried he’s done it too late. They drip into your blood stream & he raises an eye to check your still with him. He doesn’t want to turn you, not right now, but he knows if he had to he would. The last few drops of his venom drop onto your skin, sealing shut the holes, so it looks like all you have there are two spots. His breath is short, he’s panicked. Did he stop the flow in time? He looks deeply at you in hope that you will open your eyes & speak to him.

“Max” it’s a whimper as you lick your lips & come to from the most phenomenal sensation ever. Max sighs in relief.

“You okay baby?”

“Mmmmhmmmm yeaa I am, I’ve never felt so alive” your eyes connect & the frenzied kiss you receive makes you both tremble. He’s just happy he didn’t go too far in his excitement. He’s still inside you but softening.

“For a second I thought I’d lost you, & would have to delay our wedding due to turning you” he pants, his eyes are filled with love. No longer black or with a red shimmer but still large & brown.

“I’m glad you didn’t baby, that really was extraordinary” you can feel your body warm up again clearly he had drunk more than he should have, you cheeks start to colour. He holds you still so you don’t collapse as he pulls out of you & then rummages in your bag for a cloth. Usually that’s just used for blood spillage when he’s had a sudden urge to drink, but today it’s for other bodily fluids. He’s delicate as he cleans you. Despite you saying your okay he knows what he just did was a bit too much. As you both but your bottoms back on you can see in his eyes there still a concern.

“What’s the matter Max?” He does his belt up & sighs, before reply.

“You really were willing to let me drain you tonight to get your high werent you?”

“Yes Maxie, why do you think I consented”

“Wow” he says in admiration. He’s proud that you’d do anything for him. “& I didn’t even need to hypnotise you to do it”

“I have a confession Max, your hypnosis has never worked one me.” You giggle. You can feel when he tries to do it to you, especially at the start of your relationship. He’s not attempted it in ages. But nine times out of ten when he was suggesting you were down for anyhow.

“Why didn’t you tell me that?”

“Why is that an issue?”

“No!” He rubs the back of his head & pulls you in closes. “Vampire lore states that your true vampire bride wants what you do & doesn’t need persuasion” you beam back before you fling your arms around him.

“Oooh Max” it’s a soft kiss you plant on his lips before he then makes it deeper.”I love you baby”

“I love you more”

“Impossible”

“Try me” you both giggle before you kiss once more.

By the time you make your way back to the attractions most of the family’s have left. It’s now all adults & older teens hanging about. You then see an apple bobbing contest. It has a leader board with how many apples can be plucked in 2mins. The top score is 8. You see the look in Max eyes.

“Well” he says. You know his fangs & reflexes will help.

“Go on then Max”

“Ooh no your joining in too”

“What? No Max this is an easy win for you” I wink at him.

“See i think it’s going to be easier for you”

“Why?”

“Well let’s just say your bobbing & gag reflex are second to none” he says with a cheeky smile.

“Max!”

“What?! Just stating the truth baby”

“Hmmmm” you smirk & pay for both you entry’s. You then whisper to Max as you both get ready for the contest. “Do you think blow jobs will be better when I have fangs?” Max does a double take & then smiles.

“I have no idea sweetie” he takes off his coat & gets ready for his go.”but I can’t wait to find out” & so Max plunges his head into the ice water bucket. A score of 13 he gets, claiming first prize. Not that this discouraged you afterwards. Your own mouth meant you came in 2nd with a total of 10.

“That’s my good girl” Max says after your attempt, As he kisses you deeply. “My forever.”

[rainisawriter]

Dragophire Empire – S.W.O.R.D (ITYc1)

༻ITYC Ficography༺ ༻ITYC Tag༺

Genre: Comedy, friendship, slice of life -> fantasy au

Word Count: 4,581

Pairing: None

World: High&Low

A/N: So, I wasn’t sure how to write this and I’m not sure if I’m happy with it, but I hope it makes someone laugh or smile, at least haha I may expand on this later, who knows. Written for the @itropeyou challenge.

I Trope You! Challenge #: 1 – Genre Shift

━━━━━━༻🕯༺━━━━━━

Murayama entered the gym of Oya Kou, beelining for the stage that sat at the back of the room. He hopped up before falling onto the sofa beside me, excitement dancing in his dark eyes. “Guess what?”

“You finally decided to be an adult, get a job and leave Oya Kou?” I quirked a brow at him and he pouted. 

“Not even close.”

“Yeah, something like that would never happen,” I snickered. “You’ll be at this school even as an old man.”

“So will you!”

“Yeah probably.”

A moment of silence passed by as we stared at each other blankly.

Finally, I scowled. “Are you gonna tell me or nah?”

“You broke first, I win!”

“I’m leaving.” I started to get up off the couch but he grabbed the back of my shirt, yanking me back down. Before I could insult him, he finally answered.

“I found a really cool video game store during my walk today.”

“A game store?” My brow furrowed. “Those still exist? Don’t most people just buy their stuff online these days?”

“Mostly, yeah, but you’re missing out on some great titles that way,” he clicked his tongue, waving his finger at me. “Listen up, kid.”

“I’m older than you.”

He ignored the comment. “There are a lot of gems out there that can’t be bought online because they no longer exist.”

“If they no longer existed, they wouldn’t be at the store, either.” I pointed out, making him scowl.

“Yah, I’m trying to teach you a lesson.”

“Your lessons are shit. That’s why everyone at Oya is dumb as hell.”

“Oi!” Nakazono glanced up from where he was sitting below the stage, a scowl on his lips. “We’re not all dumb, ya know.”

“You’re right,” I agreed, taking in the satisfied look on his face before adding, “Todoroki is pretty damn smart.”

His expression fell to a displeased scowl again and I snickered, proud of myself.

“You’re such an ass.”

“If you’re not an ass, are you even an Oya student?”

His lips parted to retort but then he paused, thought about it for a minute and nodded. “Yeah, that’s fair.”

It was Murayama’s turn to scowl now, smacking my shoulder. “Will you focus for two minutes, please? This is important.”

“How is it important?” I leaned back against the couch, arms folded over my chest.

“Because we can find a new game to play that no one else is playing.” He paused, turning his head away and mumbling under his breath. “I was hoping it could be our special thing.“

My heart warmed at the words. He and I have been best friends for years, connecting after he and Cobra first fought. He was my brother at this point, but we didn’t spend as much time together as we could. He was always busy dealing with Oya drama and keeping the younger ones out of trouble.

Meanwhile, I’ve been working a lot lately so I could keep my apartment and still offer money to the Oya kiddos so they could get things they wanted. Admittedly, we haven’t been spending much time together lately, so it makes sense he would come up with something like this.

I knew I wasn’t meant to hear the last bit so I sighed dramatically, pretending to be annoyed. “Fine, I’ll go with you.”

He grinned, eyes lighting up.

“But you’re paying.”

He clicked his tongue, folding his arm over his chest. “Fine.”

━━━━━━༻🕯༺━━━━━━

It was mid-autumn, the temperature dropping with each day that passed by. There weren’t many trees within the city, but the few that had been planted were already bare, their colorful leaves pooled at the bottom of their trunks. The world felt more alive, more magical during the fall season and I absolutely adored it.

I couldn’t wait for Halloween, especially since Daruma’s Halloween festival was always top tier.

I pulled my jacket tighter around my body as I headed in the direction of the store. Murayama was already waiting outside, nearly bouncing on the balls of his feet as he peered through the glass.

“It’s about time,” he scowled at me, not waiting for a response before he darted into the store.

“And I thought I was impatient,” I scoffed, following after him.

No one was inside the store so it was eerily quiet. It reminded me of those old movie rental stores but, instead of movies, it was all video games for varying consoles, many of which I had never even heard of before. Murayama had been right when he said these things were gems that couldn’t be bought online.

A lot of my free time was spent browsing game lists, looking for interesting titles to save up for. Though I was picky and didn’t have a large library, I could name a lot of games simply by the description or by screenshots, but these games? I had never heard of any of them.

I hummed as I scanned the shelves, looking for anything that caught my eye though nothing did. Some of these names were insane, too.

Rocket Sizzlin’.

Killa Y.Q.Q.

Woman the Beaver.

Teenage Direction.

The Marvelous Enigmas.

Okay, that last one wasn’t bad. Feeling curious, I picked it up and turned it over. It was a pixel game about these sentient blobs of slime trying to pass for normal human beings. My nose wrinkled and I returned it to the shelf.

I wasn’t a big fan of older games and I don’t like pixel games. I prefer games with amazing graphics that make you feel as if you can jump through the screen and enter it. I like worlds that are so rich, you get lost in them, feel as if you’re part of them. Games that make you forget about the boring, mundane life you actually lead.

“If that’s what you’re looking for, child, I have the perfect game for you.”

I blinked in confusion at the old man standing a few feet away. He was short, the upper half of his body hunched over a cane as if it were the only thing keeping him on his feet. His head was mostly bald, with just a few strands of thin white hair placed at random spots. His mustache and beard was long but the hair was thin.

Where the hell had he come from? Why hadn’t I heard him? And how the hell did he know what I was thinking?

“Did I… say all that out loud?” I wondered, though I was sure I hadn’t. 

“Part of it, yes,” he chuckled, peering at me through small, dark eyes. “You were mumbling to yourself. A bad habit, I might add.”

“Oh,” I frowned, rubbing the back of my neck.

“Come, child. Allow me to show you the game you desire.” He waved his hand at me before slowly turning and hobbling away.

I highly doubted he would give me a game I enjoyed but I didn’t want to be rude so I followed him. He was so slow, though, taking five minutes just to make it to the other side of the small store.

Murayama poked his head around one of the shelves and snickered, clearly enjoying my annoyance. I flicked him off and he faked an offended look before disappearing again.

The man took a title off the shelf with a shaky hand, holding it out to me. I couldn’t help but notice how boney his fingers were, as if there was barely any skin left to cover them. “I believe you will enjoy this.”

I took it from him carefully, reading the title. “The Five Grim Kings.” Okay, not a bad title at all. I hummed, flipping it over to read the description. “‘The Dragophire Kingdom was once a prosperous nation united under one banner, but peace can not last forever.'”

He nodded, closing his eyes.

“‘The nation started to fight itself, splitting into five different factions, all of whom were vying for power and control. While they threaten to destroy themselves from within, a new power has risen from the darkness with the intent to destroy all of them.’ Huh, that sounds strangely familiar.”

The man nodded again, a frown on his lips. “They fail to realize that they are stronger together. It is your job to unite the five factions and destroy Kaxarene.”

I hummed with interest. It didn’t look like it was that old, either, the graphics looking pretty decent on the case. It was hard to believe that it was a PlayStation 4 game. Why wasn’t this listed on the website? I bet loads of people would enjoy this.

The game was ripped from my hand by Murayama who wrinkled his nose when he looked at the cover. “I didn’t know you were into medieval RPGs.”

I shrugged a shoulder, snatching it back from him. “They’re fun to play sometimes.”

“I found something better,” he grinned, holding up two copies of a game called Cosplay Rubber Duckies.

“You have got to be kidding me…” I deadpanned, making him scowl.

“Don’t look at me like that! It’s a really complex battle royale MMO where you fight against others to take control of the mind stone and rule the world.”

“The mind stone? Isn’t that a Marvel thing?”

“They don’t own the term, idiot.”

“You’re the only idiot here, idiot.”

The old man chuckled, a twinkle in his eye. “Will you be purchasing the game, then?”

I considered it for a moment before nodding. “Sure, it sounds interesting. I’m not paying for it anyway so I have nothing to lose.”

Murayama scowled, remembering that he had agreed to pay. “It better not be expensive.”

“Doesn’t matter. Oya Kou’s leader can’t go back on his word.” I snickered, shoving the game against his chest before approaching the counter.

He clicked his tongue in disapproval as he followed after me. “You’re lucky I love you.”

“Lucky? I think you mean unlucky. You’re a pain in the ass.”

“And you’re rude as hell. It balances out.”

“Yeah, that’s fair.”

The old man finally appeared behind the counter, slowly ringing up the purchase. When placed my game in a separate bag, slowly sliding it toward me. “Do be careful, child.”

My brow furrowed in confusion at the warning, a strange feeling of doom settling in my gut. Before I could question it, though, Murayama threw his arm around my neck and started to drag me from the store, complaining about how hungry he was.

━━━━━━༻🕯༺━━━━━━

“Mother fucker,” I muttered under my breath, scowling at the TV screen. I was never good at battle royale games and I rarely made it into the top ten. “I died, you’re on your own.”

Murayama clicked his tongue, the sound barely picked up by his microphone. “At least you survived longer than last time. A whole minute and a half! You should be proud.”

I scoffed at his teasing tone. “I hope that duck with the Mohawk murders you and consumes your corpse.”

“Wow, that’s a bit drama – shit!”

I burst out laughing when said duck slaughtered him without much effort.

“You jinxed me!” He complained. “I lost because of you.”

“Tsk, tsk, Shiki. You shouldn’t blame others for your own shortcomings. You gotta own up to that shit.”

“One v one me.”

“Hell no. I’m dumb but not that dumb.”

“Liar.”

“I don’t even know how to respond to that so I’m just gonna switch games.”

“Don’t you dare.”

I hummed, grabbing The Five Grim Kings from its case. “Too late. I’m removing the disc.”

“I’ll kick your ass,” he threatened, but it lacked any real malice.

“Please, you could never beat me.”

Which was, technically, the truth. Both of you were on the same level and when you fought seriously, it ended in a tie every single time. He couldn’t beat me and I could never beat him. It’s super frustrating, but it is what it is.

“Oh no, I’m taking the disc out of the console.”

“Oi, get your ass back here and be my distraction.”

I pretended to think about it for a moment. “Nah. We’ve been playing for five hours, bro, I need a break.”

“Five hours?” He replied in surprise. “No way, it’s been like five minutes.”

“We started at noon. It’s almost 5:30.”

“Your clock is just wrong.” There was the sound of movement over the headset, followed by a moment of silence. “Oh…”

I snorted. “Dumbass.”

He clicked his tongue. “You’re so mean to me. It’s hurtful.”

“Uh huh, sure. You want me to stream this or nah?”

“Absolutely.”

“Alright, gimme a minute.”

I was just about to insert the disc when my phone started to buzz from beside me. I muted my mic, removing one side of the headset so I could answer Yamato’s call. “What’s up, boss?”

“There’s been an emergency,” he grunted, sounding tired. “I need you to come in.“

“Seriously?” I groaned, leaning back against the coffee table. “Today’s my day off and it’s late. Can’t it wait until tomorrow?”

“No. The client is paying big money for this and we both could use the extra funds. Get your ass down here.” He ended the call.

“For fuck’s sake,” I muttered, turning the mic back on. “Oi, I gotta go. Got called into work.”

“Eh~? Just ignore it.”

“Can’t. Yamato would actually fire me this time.”

“Man, imagine having your wealth in someone else’s hands. Couldn’t be me.”

“Because you’re useless,” I snickered. “Later.”

“Don’t kill anyone.”

I left the party, setting my headset on the TV stand. I considered putting the disc back in its case but it was already out so I figured I would save future me the trouble. I popped it into the console before standing up and grabbing my shit, heading out into the cool afternoon.

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I let out a huff as I fell onto the bar stool, scowling at Odake-san. “The usual, please.”

A smile tugged at her lips as she started to prepare my drink. “Long day, hun?”

“The longest,” I sighed out, hanging my head. “This job is kicking my ass.”

She hummed as she set down a glass of chocolate milk before leaning her arms on the bar. “Do you wanna talk about it?”

I grabbed the glass, taking a large gulp before slamming it back on the counter. “My boss is running me ragged, Odake-san! As soon as I get back from one errand, he’s sending me off on another! He also complains that I take too long despite going there and straight back. He’s a tyrant.”

“Who’s a tyrant?”

I stiffened, straightening my back and looking fearfully at Odake before whispering, “He’s right behind me, isn’t he?”

She giggled with a nod, standing up to start preparing his drink.

I slowly turned on my stool, offering him a grin. “Hey, Yamato. How’s it going? How much did you hear, my guy?”

The tall man rolled his eyes before settling down beside me. “All of it.”

“Ouch.”

“I should fire you.”

“But you’re not gonna because you love me, right?” I grinned, nudging his shoulder.

He sent me a look but didn’t reply, choosing instead to thank Odake for the alcohol. 

I resisted the urge to click my tongue, downing the last of my drink. “Can I get another?”

“Coming right up!”

Yamato shook his head. “I can’t believe you come to a bar to order chocolate milk. You’re an actual child.”

“If I was a child, I wouldn’t be allowed inside the bar.”

“You know what I meant.” He sent me a look. “If Naomi finds out, she’s gonna be upset.”

“Don’t you dare tell her,” I hissed, smacking his shoulder. “It’s nothing personal, I just… the bar has a different vibe and sometimes I just need time away from Sannoh.”

“If Cobra hears that, he’s gonna be -“

“Really?” I deadpanned, making him snicker behind the glass.

“Don’t tease her too much,” chuckled Odake as she set another glass on the counter. “I like her company.”

“I like yours, too,” I nodded, taking the cool glass in my hand. “Thank you, Odake-san.”

She gave me a motherly smile, patting my arm. “Any time.”

After finishing my second glass, I said my goodbyes to the two and headed out into the night, ready to return home and get some sleep. I yawned loudly, rolling my neck. It had been a long day and Yamato expected me at the garage first thing in the morning to meet with a customer, so I couldn’t stay up too late or I’d end up oversleeping. 

Something caught my eye and I paused, taking a step back to get a better look. Whatever it was, it was catching the light of the street lamp, glinting softly. I approached it, glancing around for anyone who may have dropped it but the street was completely empty.

I kneeled down, fingers wrapping around the ice-cold metal so I could inspect it closer. It was a ring made of stainless steel, a black dragon inlaid across the length of it. In the dragon’s claws was a large orb made of sapphire. The blue seemed vibrant against the muted tones of the metal.

“Beautiful,” I breathed out, thumb rubbing gently over the orb. I glanced around again to ensure that no one was around before I slipped it onto my middle finger. The orb started to glow,  the metal growing warm against my skin. “What the -“

A circular wave of blue energy shot out from the ring, the world around me rippling like the surface of water after being disturbed. I prepared myself for what was to come next, but nothing happened. The world returned to normal, the night silent.

“I need sleep,” I muttered, rubbing my eyes.

When I returned to my apartment, I went straight to the bed, flopping onto it and cuddling the soft blanket Cobra had given me for my birthday. As tired as I was, I figured I could fall asleep pretty easily, but I found myself lying there for over an hour, unable to sleep.

I scowled in annoyance as I pushed myself up, grabbing a soda from the fridge. Caffeine definitely wasn’t something to drink when you wanted to sleep but something told me sleep wasn’t gonna come for me any time soon. Might as well enjoy it.

I plopped down in front of the TV, grabbing the controller. Pressing the home button woke up the TV, showing the title screen of The Five Grim Kings. Murayama would probably bitch about not waiting for him but I was too tired to care. I’d just buy him some ramen and he’d forget about it.

As soon as I pressed the start button, the ring started to glow again. Rather than the warmth I felt before, it felt as if it were on fire and I hissed, trying to tug it off but it was too hot to touch. “The hell?”

The lights started to flicker, the TV screen glitching out. One second, the intro cinematic was clear and, the next, it was so blurry I couldn’t even see what was happening. I shot up with a frown, looking for something I could use to pull the ring off. I settled for the blanket, wrapping it around my finger and tugging hard but it wouldn’t budge. It was as if my finger had swollen, trapping the ring in place.

When I removed the blanket, a beam of light shot from the ring’s orb and into the TV. “What the fu -“

The light exploded, blinding me as it threw me backward. I don’t know what I hit, but it knocked the wind from my lungs, my vision blurring. As I slid down to the ground, my vision dotted with black, my consciousness slipping from my grasp.

━━━━━━༻🕯༺━━━━━━

A groan passed my lips as pain shot through my skull. What the hell happened? Why does my body feel so sore?

“Hey, you. You’re finally awake.”

My body tensed as I shot up, wide eyes looking around frantically. “Oh my god, I’m in Skyrim?!”

“What is that?”

I looked at the large man sitting across from me, dirt covering his skin and his wrists bound with rope in front of him. I blinked dumbly a few times, slowly looking around. I was in the back of a horse-drawn cart, sure, but the guy sitting up front was no Imperial soldier.

Instead of armor, he was wearing a black robe and rather than being surrounded by trees, we were surrounded by an endless sea of yellow grass.

“I am so confused.”

“Did you hit your head or somethin’?” questioned the man, leaning forward.

“I think so.” I reached up to my head only to realize my wrists were bound, too. “What the fuck is this shit? Why am I tied up?”

“You got caught in Kaxa territory.”

“Kaxa?”

“Kaxarene.”

I stared at him, waiting for him to continue but he just stared back. “Thank you for clarifying, that definitely clears things up.”

“You’re welcome.”

“I was being sarcastic!”

His brow furrowed. “Sar… castic? What’s that?”

“S… Sarcasm doesn’t exist here? Oh god, I’m gonna die!” I cried dramatically, standing up and trying to yank my hands free. “Let me off this damn thing!”

“Sit down, now!” Snapped the driver, eyes narrowed at me. 

“I refuse! I have rights, ya know!”

“Please sit down, friend! You’re gonna get yourself killed.”

“I refuse! Try and kill me, I dare y -” I cried out when the cart came to an abrupt stop, making me lose my balance. The man tried to grab me but he wasn’t fast enough and I fell over the side, landing on the dirt path with an oof.

The driver jumped down, pulling a sword from within his robe. “I’ll save the hangman the trouble with you.”

I scrambled back as best as I could, scowling at him. “Stay away from me! You have no idea what I’m capable of! I’m warning you, man!”

But he didn’t stop advancing, lifting the sword above his head. 

The sound of hoofs pounding the ground made him pause, his eyes lifting to something behind me. I refused to check because I wanted to be able to dodge if he swung the sword at me. The man cursed, turning and rushing back to the cart, slapping the reins as he yelled at the horse to move.

It neighed loudly, taking off like a rocket. 

Horses raced past me after them, kicking up a cloud of dust that had me coughing. 

“Hey, are you okay?” A horse came to a stop in front of me, the man jumping off its back to kneel in front of me. The lower half of his face was covered by a red bandana yet he felt familiar to me. He pulled a knife from his belt, flipping it in his hand before reaching for me.

I scrambled backward until I hit something solid. Looking up, I realized it was the legs of a massive man also wearing a black bandana over his face. He, too, seemed oddly familiar.

“Ah, I’m not going to hurt you, I swear!” replied the first guy, holding his hands up. “I’m just gonna cut the rope.”

The second man reached down, grabbing my shoulder with one hand and easily hoisting me to my feet. “We don’t know who she is. She could be with Kaxa.”

“But she’s tied up. Why would they tie up one of their own?”

“To keep their identity hidden.”

My eyes snapped to the side as a third man appeared, blonde hair covering his forehead and dark eyes. I knew that voice well. “Cobra?”

His eyes widened in surprise before narrowing suspiciously. “Who are you? How do you know my name?”

“The hell are you talking about?” I scowled. “It’s me. Is this some kind of prank or something because it’s super elaborate and I hate it.”

“Be quiet,” hissed the second man, gripping my shoulder tightly.

“That fuckin’ hurts, bro, damn.” I tried to pull away but his grip was like iron. Wait a minute… I looked at him, squinting at his half covered face. It took a moment for it to click in my brain. “Yamato?”

“Don’t act like you know me,” he hissed, ripping the bandana down to his neck.

“Wait, then that means…” My eyes fell on the first guy, still holding the knife. “Chiharu?”

Chiharu tugged down the bandana, looking confused. “How do you know me?”

“Chiharu only just joined us,” Yamato muttered, sending the blonde a look. “No one should know him unless…”

“They’re from Oya Lions,” finished Cobra, closing the distance between us.

“Oya Lions?” My brow furrowed. Did that idiot go and change the name of the school without telling me? I shook my head, lifting my hands. “Look, I’m not sure what’s going on but I am not your enemy, Cobra. I would never betray you!”

“Cobra look.” Yamato grabbed my wrist, showing off the ring.

“That’s…” Cobra’s eyes widened and he tugged down the bandana. “Where did you get that?”

“I found it on the street. Thought it was cool but now I can’t get the damn thing off.”

“She’s… she’s the chosen one!” whispered Chiharu, looking at me with wonder.

“Chosen one?” I laughed, shaking my head. “Nah, fam. If I’m your chosen one, you’re all fucked. There’s no way anyone would be dumb enough to make me someone that important.”

“Ah, but that’s where you’re wrong.”

My head snapped to the side, growing wide. It was the only man from the game store, but he looked different. He was taller, for one, his back straight. Luscious white locks flowered from his head, falling to his shoulders. Standing on either side of him were Kohaku and Tsukumo.

“You,” I breathed out, my brain slowly piecing it together. I scowled, rushing toward him. “You did this, didn’t you?!”

Kohaku stepped forward, brandishing a sharp looking sword that made me stop dead in my tracks. “Not another step.”

“Does everyone in this damn world have a sword?” I complained, glaring at the old man. “Oi, what the hell is going on? What did you do to me?”

“I merely opened the portal to get you here,” explained the man as he stepped closer, patting Kohaku on the shoulder. He instantly relaxed, though his gaze did not leave me. “The ring chose you.”

“Well, I don’t choose it. Get this damn thing off me and send me home!”

“You can’t go!” cried Chiharu, rushing up to my side and giving me a pleading look. “Please, chosen one. If you don’t help us, the Kaxarene will destroy everything!”

Yamato scoffed, folding his arms over his chest. “We’re doing fine without her. We don’t need the help.”

“Oh, but you do, my boy,” stated the old man with a frown. “You’ve no idea the darkness that’s coming.”

“What do you mean, Niramo?” Cobra took a step toward him, his brow furrowed in concern. “What aren’t you telling us?”

“I’m afraid I cannot say.” Niramo lowered his head in apology before his gaze landed on me. “However, I can tell you that this one is the one who will help bring light back to Dragophire. It will never be whole again, but it can be healed by the one who possesses the power of the King’s Ring.”

Everyone looked at me expectantly and I swallowed nervously. “You guys are so fucked…”

━━━━━━༻🕯༺━━━━━━

-> High&Low/Rampage Taglist: @kiraaaeon, @simpforchuchu, @star2fishmeg, @thatpoindexterpixy -> General Taglist: @asterhaze, @mrskenpachizaraki

I think I got everyone that wanted on the taglist, let me know if I missed anyone!

[jewwyfeesh]

The Detective's Banquet 1

Writer: Mitsuki

Character(s): Shino Hajime, Mashiro Tomoya, Hidaka Hokuto, Sakuma Ritsu, Isara Mao, Hasumi Keito, Sakuma Rei, Kazehaya Tatsumi, HiMERU, Shiina Niki

Translated by: jewwyfeesh

Hokuto: Analysis result: no signs of life have been detected.

Season: Autumn Location: Luxury Hotel Room

[A dark and stormy night, in a certain hotel room…]

Tomoya: How did it end up like this…

At first, it was meant to be a one-off banquet with inference and logical reasoning as its main theme, but… suddenly, there was a real case to be solved.

Due to the unexpected rainstorm, the once comfy holiday spot became an island isolated from the outside world. Everyone’s stuck here, unable to leave.

We were like beasts trapped in a cage – despite looking for clues all over the place, wracking our brains trying to reason it out, we still couldn’t find the killer hidden amongst us.

As time went by, I had an ominous premonition. That’s why I’m here, recording, narrating my side of the story as truthfully as I can.

Afterwards, I’ll hide the memory card away. If something unexpected were to happen to me, I hope that there would be someone who’ll find the clues I’ve left behind, and bring the truth to light.

I remember that—

……?!

W-who…? Who’s there!

???: It seems like you didn’t close your door fully, ‘High School Student Detective’.

Location: Dead End Cafe

[The afternoon before, in the holiday resort’s main cafe area]

Rei: Dearest detectives, welcome to this island, an island far away from any hustle and bustle. I have prepared a banquet to welcome you seven, and of course, in this feast of inference… mysteries do run aplenty.

While we are to temporarily stay within the boundaries of the hotel due to the sudden storm, I assure you that the service here is the best of the best.

As the owner of this island, as well as the organizer of the banquet… Without further ado, kindly allow me to introduce the detectives that have gathered here today.

First of all, we have my little brother, Ritsu. The media has bestowed upon him the title of ‘Vampire Detective’, but I sincerely doubt those reports that shower him with praise have sufficiently showcased Ritsu’s unparalleled intellect and cuteness—

Ritsu: Haha, anija really loves to joke, doesn’t he? There are other skilled detectives here as well, and I don’t intend on making a fool of myself in front of the real experts. Please pay him no mind, and enjoy the banquet.

Rei: I’m sure everyone’s heard of this person — possessing superb reasoning ability and the ability to solve a case without stepping foot on scene… we have the aptly named ‘Armchair Detective’!

HiMERU: Thank you for the invitation, Sakuma-san. HiMERU is very happy for this opportunity to engage the other detectives in discussions of reason.

Tatsumi: I didn’t expect to see you here, HiMERU-san; I really do look forward to working on solving these with you ♪

HiMERU: Likewise. HiMERU wasn’t expecting to bump into you here either.

Tatsumi: Aah, I almost forgot to introduce myself to you all. I’m Kazehaya Tatsumi, a pastor from a nearby church. I happened to have helped solve a few cases while working. As such, I was referred to as the ‘Clergyman Detective’.

Mao: Both an idol and a detective, I am Trickstar’s Isara Mao ☆

Despite being called the ‘Idol Detective’, I only helped to investigate a case before a concert, which allowed the event to proceed as planned… it’s not really something worth boasting about…

Hajime: I’m the ‘Part-time Detective’ Shino Hajime. If you need anything, please feel free to approach me ♪

Tomoya: Erm… I’m the ‘High School Student Detective’, Mashiro Tomoya… Nothing special about me.

(Why are all the acting roles I get so plain… At the very least, I would’ve liked a higher rank or title of some sort… something like ‘Super High Schxxl Detective’, maybe. That does sound way cooler.)

(Ah, Hokuto-senpai’s about to do his introduction! I better pay attention.)

Hokuto: Hidaka Hokuto. ‘Bionic Detective’. Serial Number 3A1217.

Tomoya: (I nearly forgot that Hokuto-senpai’s character is an android who uses arithmetic calculations to emulate personalities… It does sound very difficult to pull off, but Hokuto-senpai definitely won’t have a problem!)

Rei: Now that everyone has gotten to a little more about the companions you’ll be embarking on this analytical journey with… Before we kick start the competition of brains and observational skills, let us first enjoy a pleasant banquet ♪

As wine will inhibit the brain’s precision and function, kindly allow me to use this cup of blood red tomato juice to prevent that—

……?!

Ritsu: Anija?!

H-how could this happen? W-why did he suddenly collapse?

Hokuto: An anomaly has been detected. Automatically running the body scan—

Analysis result: no signs of life have been detected.

Commencing further testing—

Analysis result: fingernails are pink, complexion is cherry red, and there’s a smell of bitter almonds near the lips. Cause of death tentatively determined to be cyanide poisoning.

Ritsu: Wh-what…?! No, no! I don’t believe it…

Mao: ……

Hajime: Ritsu Onii-chan… Wait no, ‘Vampire Detective’-san, please restrain your grief…

HiMERU: That’s right. HiMERU reckons that the most important thing right now is to ascertain the identity of the killer. According to what Sakuma-san said earlier on… due to the raging thunderstorm, everyone is to stay within the boundaries of this hotel for their own safety. That’s to say—

Tatsumi: That person may very well be hiding amongst us.

HiMERU: ……Yes.

Tomoya: (Whatever happened was really unexpected, yet everyone’s quick on their feet to react! I need to keep up!)

If he was poisoned after consuming the tomato juice, that means that the poison must’ve come from either the juice or the cup, right?

​​Mao: Indeed, these methods of poisoning are more convenient than others. May I ask who has previously handled these items?

Niki: I was the one in charge of the food and drink for this banquet, but I wouldn’t think of poisoning such holy food!

Keito: The cutlery was prepared by me. Sakuma-san and I grew up together, close like brothers[1]. I have no motive to kill him.

Ritsu: I was the one who handed him that glass of tomato juice… if I had known earlier…

Hokuto: Analysis complete. Lethal doses of toxins were not found in the juice nor the vessel.

Tomoya: —EH?!

Translator's notes: [1] 情同手足 - an idiom that directly translates to "as close as one's hands and feet", which means like brothers / with a brotherly love for each other

Chapter 2 →

[not-krys]

Seasonal Vibes Meme

So, saw a prompt on twitter about what seasonal vibes a character/ship gives off, so I think it'd be a fun question for here and a good writing exercise:

What seasonal vibes does your OC / squish / ship give off? Are they like spring or winter? Can also include not so traditionally thought of seasons, like the rainy season, harvest season, winter/spring thaw, a local holiday season, bug season, etc.

For those that wanna do this too, you can do your OC (fandom or original), or even just your favorite fictional squish at the moment.

For those that wanna do ships, sky's also the limit. MC x canon, OC x canon, canon x canon, selfship x canon, romantic or platonic, doesn't matter, just whatever the seasonal vibe is with a lil blerb as to why that is.

No pressure tagging: @lorei-writes, @kissmetwicekissmedeadly, @scummy-writes, @honeybyte, @batteryrose, @drachonia, @limonzu, @tsundere-mitsuhide, and anyone else that's wants to play.

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Houki/Mitsunari (IkeSen): Spring, Sweet blossoming beginnings. Both are discovering new things around them (Houki quite literally as she's from a different world all together, Mitsunari learning about love and confidence) and while there may be storms along the way, they help each other blossom into themselves.

(plus it doesn't help that @beni-draw-ikemen-please drew them surrounded by cherry blossoms a while back, so I'll always think of them with the springtime vibes)

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Ophelia/Kennyo (IkeSen): Late Winter/Early Spring Thaw. Times of deep turmoil coming to an end so that something new and wonderful can grow. They both have troubling things happen to them in the past, but as time passes, they learn to grow as people and to put the harsh times behind them so they can have hope for the future.

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Thea/Theo/Arthur (IkeVamp): Summer. Time of high heat and fun adventures. They bicker and tease each other a lot of the time, but they never turn down having an adventure together. Whether that adventure consists of solving some small mystery in town, walking hand in hand in hand through an art gallery they helped set up together, or challenging each other in cards or arm wrestling in the gaming room, they never forget that doing it together is the best part of any adventure.

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Abby/Vincent (IkeVamp): Autumn. Change and reflection on the times of the past. Abby goes through a lot changes in her life, Vincent being present for a lot of her later changes, sometimes even triggering them himself. But he always wants to be a part of her life, especially after he lost her the first time, putting a change in him that rippled across all the lives they had connected with before.

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Maddie/Harr (IkeRev): Early Summer. Not as young as they used to be to be like spring, but still want to have the fun they had/didn't have in their youths. Harr is a hardened academic at his core and Maddie is discovering magic for the first time, three decades into her life. They have insatiable curiosity despite not being spring chickens anymore. Their lives are shaped by their pasts yet they still want to explore the world and discover more of its mysteries and wonders.

---

Clara/Nokto (IkePri): Rainy Season. The sun after the rain is much more beautiful than the sun before the rain. At first, Clara hated Nokto. She hated him for taking advantage of her and for putting her in situations she felt she had no business being a part of. However, once his masks were washed away, as it were, she saw who he was underneath. How much this man actually cared, about the kingdom and about her despite his wicked ways. How tightly he held her when he opened up about his insecurities, about how much better everyone else was compared to the jester he made himself out to be. How he didn't deserve the ray of sunshine she was, how jealous he was about her open and honest ways. How much he wished he could be like her. And once the rain stopped and the sun came out again, they found the other much more beautiful drenched but smiling. That though they went through some hard times, they still came through the storms to see light again.

---

Miri (Obey Me): Spring, She doesn’t have a set suitor yet, but the ones that I have romantically shipped her with (and with all her platonic ships too), she has the aura of spring: sweet, innocent, blossoming love, sometimes a little unpredictable in the newness of everything. She wants to be kind to everyone, even if it sometimes is a detriment to herself. She wants to do right by the three realms, even if that sentiment maybe a little naïve compared to others who have lived through harder times than she has. Yet her newness and fresh outlook has changed some of even the toughest of opponents and has helped heal and soothe even the bloodiest wounds of the past. She's bringing about positive change in a world that doesn't want change but desperately needs it.

[heilith]

Hello lovely! I saw your thing for fan fics 👀 I thought it'd be fun to play.

Firstly, the fics that come to mind are "autumn hands" and "loss and gain"

The questions I am curious about are:

1. What inspired you to write the fic this way? Alternatively, what inspired the fic?

3. What is your favorite line of narration?

4. What is your favorite line of dialog?

9. We're there any alternate versions of these fics?

Also- one of my own questions.

What is something that you know/ lore built about this fic/ pairing that didn't make it into the final product? (If anything)

Also! I'd also like to request you also answer these about any fic on your list that you adore, a piece you put your whole heart into and don't feel as if it gets the love you hoped it would 💜

I hope you have a great day!

1. What inspired you to write the fic this way? Alternatively, what inspired the fic?

Autumn Hands: What inspired this fic was the fact that I have perpetually cold hands and feet, no matter the season, and I could relate. It’s little fun seeing a special someone jump out of their skin, when you touch them. I’d been dancing around the idea of writing this fic, as it had been a huge hit on my Imagine-all-the-elves sideblog, and then someone came to my askbox and requested it. I guess it was meant to be.

Loss and Gain: Another request from my lovely mutual, @from-lothlorien-to-helms-deep. The logic of my inspiration came from them being a musician, first and foremost, and then I honestly can’t tell. Like it often happens, the story stepped on my throat and said: “Hold still, I’ll do the rest.”  

2. What is your favorite line of narration?

I don’t include the emotional bits, just those I like as I writer.

Autumn Hands: Autumn disliked you, even in the Golden forest, where, as you had heard once, there had to be only summer day after day. 

Loss and Gain: You sighed, telling yourself it was high time to leave and cease wounding your heart with the spectacle of the pleasure you’d been denied.

3. What is your favourite line of dialog?

Autumn Hands:

“My lady sends me back?” asked he with a small rise of his brow. 

Loss and Gain:

“My gain, little neighbor,” mouthed he into the wisp of hair at your temple.

4. Were there any alternate versions of these fics?

Autumn Hands: None that I can recall. The first idea was the best one.

Loss and Gain: The alternate idea revolved around the reader failing at a minstrel contest.

5. What is something that you know/ lore built about this fic/ pairing that didn't make it into the final product? (If anything)

Autumn Hands: The protagonist is the healer reader from With a Kiss, but I mentioned that in the summary. Yes, I know it’s weird that I’d written Autumn Hands before that one. :) I just wasn’t sure I could write that idea and not make it stupid, so it took me some years to brace myself for it.

These are the very first months of the reader in Lothlorien, and she finds it hard to fit in.

I was toying with the idea of relocating this couple to Mirkwood later on. :) Thought better of it, though.

Loss and Gain: There was no whirl in the air, but there was a neck kiss. I decided that it would spoil the almost-but-not-romance mood and played the story differently.

“Also! I'd also like to request you also answer these about any fic on your list that you adore, a piece you put your whole heart into and don't feel as if it gets the love you hoped it would 💜”

Oh-oh, that would be hard. Well, let it be In the Middle. It has plenty of notes, but I’d love to talk about it.

What inspired you to write the fic this way? Alternatively, what inspired the fic?

I’m a sucker for writing kisses. I am. And I practically beg my followers to request kisses from me. But since a kiss is, all in all, a simple action, whatever the circumstances are, I find it fun and refreshing to find new ways around each of them. And here I get a kiss interrupted by a third party and I think to myself “why not make a love triangle out of it”?

And that’s how it ends up to be one of my favourite kisses. Or two of them, to be exact.

What is your favorite line of narration?

The counting bits.

And: “And his kisses were an offering and a prayer, and you accepted both without a shadow of shame.”

What is your favorite line of dialog?

“It comes with a reward, sweet Lindir,” you reminded him, cursing yourself as his name came off your lips as a tenderer address than you wished it to be, “It wasn’t him who scorned it.”

Were there any alternate versions of these fics?

No, it was a no-regrets ride from start to finish.

What is something that you know/ lore built about this fic/ pairing that didn't make it into the final product? (If anything)

It’s rather what I don’t know about it. I don’t for the life of me know whom she should choose. I think it will only become clear if I make myself write a sequel for it.

Thank you very much for asking, I enjoyed it immensely! :)

[nancypullen]

Halloween Eve

I haven't posted much about my excitement over Halloween. I figured everyone is sick of hearing me talk about it. But never, ever doubt that I'm counting the hours until the streets are filled with happy children, generous adults, and the pure magic that is All Hallow's Eve.

Our holiday here in Maryland looks different than it did in Tennessee. There, I'd decorate the yard and porch and my sweet friend Vicky would come over. We'd spend the evening laughing and handing out candy to kids. We did that together for twenty years. Here in Maryland the mister and I get to walk around the grandgirl's neighborhood with her, and let me tell you, it is fun. Her neighborhood does Halloween right, it reminds me of the Halloweens of my childhood. Hordes of children running house to house in costume, laughing, screaming from minor scares, and having the best time. Adults walk along behind, talking, laughing, and enjoying the fun. It's safe, it's wholesome, and it's absolutely delightful. I'm really excited about our Halloween! We've been watching Halloween shows together, so sharing the big night together is only right. She really enjoyed the dipped strawberry ghosties I made the last weekend.

Two things will make this Halloween fabulous - it's supposed to be chilly and we get to bring the grandgirl home with us. She's got no school on November 1st (smart school) and what better place to spend a free day than at Grancy's house? Autumn is really showing off around here and I couldn't love it more. No matter which window I pass in this house, I get a beautiful view of jewel tones.

Our bedroom...

the kitchen...

the grandgirl's room...

my craft room...

isn't it wonderful?

Of course, I brought in plenty of pumpkins and mums. They are CHEAP up here!

Geez, of course I left a milk jug on the porch when I snapped that photo. I'd just watered the mums, got distracted, and now it's part of history. This one is messy too - the shadow of my big head, leaves everywhere before they were raked up. I don't care, it just screams FALL!

Those big pots of mums? Most of them were four dollars. Some of them were just two dollars! There's a guy just down the road who grows them for commercial sales but he also lets locals purchase from him. Last Saturday he marked all of the four dollar mums down to two dollars so I went back for more!

These six pots were just $12 total! Those pink Sheffield mums will be planted in the front garden. They're gorgeous.

I replaced the summer impatiens with mums and now Sassafras Woods is dressed for the season.

Everywhere I go around town is a feast for the eyes.

Turning onto our little street is a treat, too.

And when I pull into our driveway, get out of the car, and look up...it's dazzling!

I just can't get enough. I believe Lucy Maud Montgomery gave Anne of Green Gables the best words for it.

The only thought that makes it possible to loosen my grip on October and autumn is the promise of a cold, snowy winter. Maryland doesn't necessarily promise that, but the Farmers' Almanac is giving me hope. Autumn is still my first love, but a frosty winter is some comfort while I mourn the end of all of this glorious color. Come on, Jack Frost, glitter my world!

But I'm getting ahead of myself, I can't worry about the winter forecast when my high holiday is just hours away. I can't wait to frolic with the kids and listen to their shouts of glee while they enjoy their big night. I'll wear my witch hat, a big fake witchy nose, and this sweatshirt.

Would you believe that I have a job interview in the morning? Yep, when I received the email inviting me for an in-person interview I was given a choice of two days and Halloween felt lucky. It may be hard for me to contain my excitement

Again, they should probably know who they're dealing with up front. I mean, I won't wear my witch hat or anything...yet. That's what's happening around the Pullen Patch right now. I'm trying to act normal while Halloween is just hours away, I get to spend it with my favorite little witch, and I'm trying to hold on to every last bit of the gorgeous color and fluttering leaves. I have nothing against November, but let's all admit that it represents the end of autumn and the start of a lot of work for women. I'm already tired from cooking Thanksgiving dinner and decorating the Christmas tree and I haven't started yet. The scariest thing you'll hear on Halloween is that Christmas is just 55 days away.

I've purchased four small gifts so far. I am way behind. Way behind. This may be the year everyone gets socks. Who doesn't like a nice, soft pair of socks? Gahhh, I'm old. Anyway, I hope that wherever you are you are cooking up some Halloween fun. If answering the door every five minutes and passing out candy isn't your style, I highly recommend popping popcorn and watching a favorite scary movie. Sleepy Hollow with Johnny Depp is one of my favorites. I also find joy in some of the good ol' Disney favorites like Halloweentown or The Worst Witch. Not scary, just fun. Whatever you're doing when the veil thins on Halloween night, I hope it makes your heart sing.

Sending out so much love on this beautiful fall evening. Stay safe, stay well, and have FUN! XOXO, Nancy

[hekateinhell]

Your Louis/Armand headcanons my goddd you get them so well 🤌🏼 despite the fact that they built Trinity Gate together and lived there for over a decade I’ve always seen them as more of an Upstate couple yk, the poster boys of cottage core/sad girl autumn, all cozy sweaters and giant scarfs and piles of books and fireplace cuddles. To their Upstste neighbors they’re this impossibly beautiful gay couple with a slight age difference (not the kind of age difference that would really get people talking though). The auburn haired one is a little standoffish at times and the brunette one has to pull him by the arm so they can say hi to the neighbors during their nightly walks. Louis insists they leave housewarming gifts by their neighbors’ doors whenever someone new moves in (it’s usually an apple crumble pie they get at Trader Joe’s, with a little card in Louis’ handwriting). Armand rolls his eyes at first but he secretly loves and craves the attention people give him and Louis together (“see Lestat? You’re not the only one turning heads with him by your side”). People start noticing they don’t really talk to each other a lot and seem to communicate with looks which they think is incredibly romantic but really it’s just them quoting erotic literature bangers back and forth in their heads . It’s the type of thing they don’t have the opportunity to do with their disaster blonds so they make the most of it whenever they’re together. Them getting away from all the noise and the people and the expectations and just having the opportunity to decompress together in a little (ridiculously expensive and meticulously designed ofc) Upstate love nest is my JAM 🥹 xoxo DA 💋

Awww DA, always so nice to see you! 🥰 I apologize for taking a minute—I've been outside roasting like a little lizard now that summertime has arrived here on the East Coast (apparently... I don't question it).

YES you get it, they're such an autumn couple! A 'season of mists and mellow fruitfulness, close bosom-friend of the maturing sun' (Keats; Louis would approve imo).

Armand and Daniel to me are much more summer, with humid late nights, beaches, and just the exciting highs of life. Lestat and Armand are spring, I think... renewal, rebirth, and hope (literally if we think about what Lestat represents to Armand).

It's so funny to consider how much practice Louis and Armand must have blending in, like I wonder what their neighbors on the Upper East Side think of them... what's the cover story there?

Louis is such a gentleman, he would so be the one introducing himself to the entire village! (Because rumors get started real quick in those sleepy little towns where not much happens, best to nip it in the bud). LMAO at the age difference 😭 Louis probably skates right under the radar at an entire twenty-five years old (RIP, Danny). Armand deserves to have Louis be his trophy husband from time-to-time, and in a childish sort of way, it soothes some of his insecurities that must stem from knowing their kind sees Louis as Lestat's consort first and foremost.

PLEASE tell me more about this erotic telepathic foreplay. 👀 I'm not ready or maybe I am for Louis to go all James Joyce on Armand (iykyk, otherwise shush) but he must've made him blush at least once right over the Headless Horseman Bridge. 🥹

*btw thought you might be into the L/A/D snippet I posted last week 💖 I'm a disgrace and don't have anything new to share since, but I hope to get back to it after banging out a kink meme prompt rip

[hermannsthumb]

For the autumn fic meme can you do number 7? (maybe Newt trying to be brave and failing miserably? >:3)

7. scary movies

from autumn fic prompts here

WHEW i've had an exhausting few weeks but things are finally calming down and i can devote time back to my beloved little dudes again. i have a longer fic i'm working on for spooky season but it's also HALLOWEEN PROMPT FILL SEASON once more!! here's an old old one I never got around to filling

--------------------------------------------------

"I am not," Hermann says, "as easy as you seem to think I am."

Newt's not sure what's more disconcerting here: hearing someone outside of, like, 1950 refer to themselves as easy, or Hermann apparently worrying that Newt might apply that word to him, in the lust-inspiring glory of his sweatervest, baggy wool slacks, stiff collar, daintily crossed ankles, the twelve inches he's left between them, and the full-body shudder of displeasure he gives whenever Newt makes the mistake of looking in his direction. And worrying about it so bad he had to reach over and pause the movie to make sure Newt had his full attention before making the declaration. Yeah, easy, that's sooo Hermann. He wouldn't even take off his shoes before he got on Newt's bed, because it would've been quote-unquote too intimate. What a harlot.

"I literally have no idea what you're talking about," Newt says. "Am I missing some, like, signals? Is this some sort of Gottlieb mating ritual?" The only thing Hermann has done all night is snap at Newt for burning their popcorn in the microwave (among a host of other offenses, ranging from breathing too loudly to keeping the brightness on his computer too high). Newt thinks he would've noticed if Hermann was suddenly fluttering his eyelashes or taking off his shirt or something. Actually, if Hermann considers picking fights easy behavior, then Newt suddenly has a whole lot of their relationship to reassess here. As in, all of it. Maybe arguing is part of the complex intricacies of Gottliebian mating rituals, the rest of which involve unstylish haircuts and submitting HR complaints. Newt should pay closer attention to these sorts of things.

"No," Hermann snaps. "I am referring to your invitation, which was clearly a pitiful attempt to seduce me, and my subsequent acceptance thereof, which was against my best judgement and that I began to regret almost immediately." He folds his arms across his chest and scowls at Newt. It's not as intimidating as he clearly hopes it'll be, because there's a decent amount of burnt popcorn crumbs clinging to the front of his sweater, and his glasses are crooked.

"I'm not trying to do anything but watch a movie, dude," Newt says.

"Oh, yes, for now," Hermann says. "But soon enough you'll be so terribly frightened that you'll need to turn to me for comfort, and then one thing will lead to another, and then—" He shakes his head darkly. "I can assure you now that will not be happening, despite any efforts to the contrary. Feign your fear all you wish."

That's the problem with trying to be anything but a mortal enemy to Hermann—the guy's always gotta act like Newt has some sort of dark, mysterious, ulterior motive going on. Cups of tea always have to be deliberately brewed too bitterly with too much milk (instead of just, y'know, the shop Newt went to messed up his order), invitations for excursions into the city or late night talks on the Shatterdome roof are trying too hard to make up for whatever Newt's crime against him of the week is. Hermann can never just accept kindnesses from Newt at face value. Technically, Newt supposes he did have a slight ulterior motive in inviting Hermann over for spooky movie night tonight that verged beyond selflessly giving Hermann a social life into self-serving, but he's been literally upfront about it from the start. And it has nothing to do with getting a hand under Hermann's four layers, thank you. "I want to watch this new movie," he said earlier in the lab, while Hermann eyed him suspiciously, "but it's supposed to be scary as shit, so I don't want to do it alone." If it gives him nightmares, then at least he'll have someone to commiserate with.

Newt's not sure whether he prefers Hermann to see him as a big baby or a skeezeball. Big baby is worse, maybe—at least the alternative means Hermann thinks he's, like, at least mildly suave and a mega-pro at seducing grumpy mathematicians. But it all also raises a very important question. "If you knew I was gonna try to seduce you, then why did you come over?" Hermann was being pretty quiet about everything, up to and including when Newt told him to make himself at home on his bed, until now.

Hermann coughs, and mumbles out something about not having anything better to do with his time, then something else about Newt having wily machinations. "Let's finish the damned movie," he says.

Though Newt's chosen to let Hermann believe he's speeding down the skeezeball route tonight, that doesn't actually change the fact that Newt is, at heart, kind of a big baby—but also only when it comes to sooome horror movies, because he's usually really awesome and punk about these things, and you don't cover yourself in tattoos if you don't have a high tolerance for discomfort, and Newt was watching monster movies before he had object permanence. Unfortunately Newt is not currently covering himself in tattoos or dealing with his dad's admittedly questionable age-appropriate media decisions, but rather curled up in a sweatshirt and watching an evil spooky ghost slash through teenagers like nothing on his laptop with Hermann. The reviews weren't wrong about the realistic special effects. Newt makes a small noise that's definitely not a groan and turns his face away, just a little bit. "I don't understand why you enjoy subjecting yourself to rubbish like this," Hermann says. He's wrinkling his nose. Newt thinks the fiery power of Hermann's disdain could stop the homicidal movie ghost right in its tracks, which strangely makes him feel a little better. "We could be watching an infinite number of other much better films."

"Great idea," Newt says. "K-science movie night, every Friday. You can make the popcorn and choose the flick next time, I'll order pizza." Pizza sounds great right now. He should have dragged Hermann out into the city for pizza night and drinks at the worst bar he could find and made him eat something for dinner with nutritional value for a change (well, okay, in terms of comparison to the scalding tea and toast he usually has for dinner, a pizza is like a damn salad bar), not lured him into his messy bunk for a scary movie night neither of them are actually feeling. Maybe it's not too late to change their plans. There are probably still a few 24/7 delivery stragglers out there in a city this big that haven't yet succumbed to being stomped on by kaiju. "Is that guy still getting chainsawed?"

"No," Hermann says. He looks up at Newt's laptop screen quickly—he'd been distracted, picking crumbs off his sweater—and corrects himself, only just audible over the whirring of the ghost's chainsaw. Not a very creative weapon of choice for a slasher. Chainsaws are kinda been there done that, Newt thinks. "Er. Yes. This has been a rather prolonged death scene."

"Yeah, dude, no shit," Newt says. He tucks his head in against Hermann's shoulder, because it's not like Hermann can possibly think any less of him right now, and he's relieved when Hermann acquiesces to the touch and doesn't boot him across the room. Hermann's sweater smells kinda weird, like he left it out in the rain and didn't bother washing it after it dried. It's still soothing to be this close to him. Ugh, not that Newt would ever, ever admit that out loud, how embarrassing.

"I told you your charms are not going to work on me, Newton," Hermann sniffs, even as he gives Newt's shoulder a pat, and then something, bewilderingly enough, that Newt might call a reassuring squeeze. He doesn't move his hand afterwards. "No matter how pathetic you look right now."

"Thanks? Um, I think?"

Something particularly gnarly must happen on screen, because Hermann suddenly winces and drops their popcorn bowl, sending the remainder of it (mostly vaguely salty kernels) scattering across the floor. He reaches out and angles Newt's laptop screen down, just a centimeter from being shut entirely. A slasher-chainsawing-ghost victim screams their heart out through the muffled speakers. Hermann closes the laptop the rest of the way. "I think we ought to pick something else," he says.

"Sounds great," Newt says.

[prince-rowan-of-the-forest]

Patton Darling Heart (1/2)

—-

How can a mortal baby befriend four fae courts, their leaders and their queens in less than five years? How does said baby grow up with such a strange family? Well...

Patton Heart knew he wasn't like the rest of his family, he also knew that his situation was an unorthodox one. He also knew that one family wanted him and the other didn't, so to be honest, Patton was pretty happy with his weird and wonderful life.

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| Ao3 | Next -> |

Warnings: nothing explicit, but some bad parenting is implied. A couple of mentions of murder and execution, again, not explicit. If there's anything else I should add please lmk

Pairings: all platonic

Word Count: 5909

Notes:

Yes, this is the fic where Patton reverse-adopts all of the fae. have fun!

Part of my New Years verse, which is what I'm going back to calling it because the other name was kinda shit tbh, this is a backstory fic so you don't need to read the other ones for this one to make sense!

I also have an Ask Blog for my aus too! So you can ask my characters from this series and my others random crap too :D

I hope you enjoy!

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There are some bad people in this world. Patton knew this from a very young age.

Patton knew that the people who raised him were not his real family. They were also not the kind of people to soften the truth, so he knew that his real family hadn’t wanted him.

He knew that they had swapped him like a piece of junk at a yard sale for a baby they considered better, he was aware that he didn’t grow up in the same way as most of his kind, and he knew this well even by the age of four.

And you might be thinking, what a poor child, to be left in a mortal household by the cruel fae! Right? Because that’s the usual story, well maybe it was, but Patton knew better than most that mortals could be just as cruel.

Because Patton was a mortal, not fae, and his mortal parents were the cruel ones, but really Patton wasn’t qualified to tell this story, because it all happened when he was far too young to remember…

—

It was a particularly cold evening in January when a group of faeries lead by some summer gentry who’s name Imari- Lord Winter, to you- couldn’t remember burst into his court unannounced. Immediately he was suspicious, because the summer gentry tended to avoid him at all cost during his season, he could identify maybe one winter fae in the small group as well as an autumn who looked so scrawny that she barely compared, the rest of the fae were Seelie and the gentry held a small bundle tightly in zir arms.

“What is the meaning of this?” Imari asked, keeping his tone level, contrary to popular belief he didn’t actually want to scare the Seelie, especially the ones willing to come into his court. 

“We don’t mean anything by the intrusion,” The summer announced, shifting the bundle ze held, “We just- um- have a situation, that we’re not sure exactly how we should go about dealing with, and we concluded it best to come to you before acting beyond what we already have…”

Imari couldn’t help how he became more curious by the moment as to what on earth was going on, so he asked as much.

“Well!” A spring pixie piped up, her voice high pitched and glowing wings flittering as she hovered next to the summer, “We were just out in the woods makin’ sure the trees an’ the plants were all ok after all that snow last night and- well-”

“Two mortals,” The autumn took over, “Summoned us, with cream and fruits, and, well I suppose we’re lucky Mari was there because-”

“They tried to… reverse changeling us…” The winter finished, looking a little concerned as they crossed their arms.

“I don’t understand,” Imari said, standing up, “Reverse changeling?”

“That’s all we can think to call it,” The summer sighed, turning the bundle in zir arms so Imari could see what it was… a tiny mortal child, pink in the face with big blue eyes looking up at him, “They- made a deal. Gave us their child in return for one of ours- and- well obviously we had to take it when they practically forced their poor child into my arms-”

“They said they would have left it in the woods otherwise!” The spring pixie said, “It wouldn’t have survived-”

“We didn’t think such a small child deserved such a fate-” Said the winter.

“So I gave up my own child in return,” The autumn finished, voice quiet. 

“How old is it?” Imari asked, looking from the tiny child to the summer who held it. ze sighed.

“We’re not sure, sire,” ze said, “But- as a guess- it has been in this world barely two weeks,”

“Mortals can be so cruel…” Imari said, looking down at the tiny child in the Summer’s arms and feeling nothing but disdain for the mortals who would so readily give him away, “I will never cease to be surprised by their hatred for life, you said you gave your child in return?”

“Yes, Lord,” The autumn said, bowing her head, “My son who’s been on this earth not yet a year, He was not born to be a changeling, but I knew he would serve to give them hell.”

“What season?” He asked.

“Spring, Lord.” She answered.

“I shall speak with the Lord of Spring to ensure that he is able to safely return to you should he wish,” Imari said.

“There is no need, sire,” The autumn told him, standing tall despite her ragged form, “Jay will handle it, they are strong, he is more than capable of teaching those mortals the lesson they deserve for their cruelty.”

Imari paused for a minute, she really did believe in her child. If that was the case then he wouldn’t interfere. She seemed to prefer to let it take its own course. 

“Did they give you a name for this child?” Imari asked instead, turning back to the summer, who recoiled slightly, zir expression immediately suspicious, “I do not intend any harm to the mortal child, I am simply curious as to whether he has one.”

“They did give me a name,” The summer said, shifting awkwardly, “They called him Patton.”

—-

By nature, Winter got first claim to the child. Patton had been born in its season, after all, and to the fae that is how it worked. 

Unfortunately, and the reason it was a debate at all, Patton was not fae and the other courts seemed to feel they had reason to keep the child as well.

Summer because Marigold, the summer gentry, had been the one to make the deal in the first place, and thus by right the child belonged to zem.

Spring because one of their own had been given up in exchange for the child, so they believed themselves entitled to the mortal child if this were to be a fair trade. 

And Autumn felt entitled to the child only because one of their fae had been the one to give up a child for the deal, so they wanted the new child for compensation.

It was madness throughout fairyland at first, when word spread about the mortal child and the unorthodox deal. No-one really knew who should have the child or where he belonged. By fae law, all of them had some right, and no Lord or Lady was about to back down to the others. 

Which is why only a week after Patton was given to Imari, Lord of Winter, the Unseelie Queen- it being her domain for the remainder of winter- called for a meeting between the four High Fae of Season in order to settle this dispute. She ordered that they should settle it even through bloodshed, should it end up necessary, but it was to be settled tonight.

They had been sitting at this table for hours, each of the four practically campaigning to be the one who keeps the child. They were all tired by now, despite new refreshments being brought in every hour on the hour. They had gotten nowhere by arguing and every hour they got closer to midnight and with it the idea of this despite being settled by battle. 

That is until Harley- Lord of Spring- stood from his seat and placed his hands on the table. He spoke calmly, cutting through the argument being held currently between Ladies Summer and Autumn.

“If you will be inclined to listen,” Harley spoke smoothly, “I believe I have a suggestion for a solution that may work for us all.”

“Right,” Ember- The Autumn Lady- said with a sigh, sitting back in her chair, “At this point I’ll hear you out, flower boy, just this once.”

“If it’ll stop all of this senseless arguing.” Said Rhaine, Lady Summer, with a sharp side eye at Ember, “Then I’m happy to listen.”

“Good!” Harley smiled after Imari had nodded, “So, I remembered only a short while ago there was a certain custom mortals partook in, primarily when two parents of a child had split and were unsure as to who should keep the child- but I think it can be applied to our situation as well.”

“Spit it out,” Ember groaned, picking at her nails, “I don’t have all day to sit around listening to you ramble about stupid mortal customs.”

“Right, of course,” Harley said, waving a hand, “In such a situation mortals may… I think the term used is ‘share custody’ of the child, meaning they live separately and the child will stay with one parent for a certain time before staying with the other parent for a certain time, I thought perhaps we could employ this strategy and have the child stay with each of us during our own season, and then pass him to the next court when the seasons change.”

“That-” Rhaine said, before pausing, “Actually may work out, you’ve outdone yourself this time, Lee.”

“I hate to disagree with what seems like a wonderful idea,” Imari said quietly, “But surely moving around so much would put strain on the child? I am aware mortals are fragile…”

“Considering it would only be four moves a year,” Harley said, “And he will be spending roughly three mortal months in each court, presuming each will provide him a safe environment-”

The room seemed to turn on Ember for a second, who frowned.

“-It should not be too stressful for the child,” Harley said, before beginning to pace as he continued to explain, “It is beneficial that there was at least one member of each court present when the deal is made, because it means that the little flower will be familiar with a faerie from each court to a small degree, which will help him to settle in, perhaps I could suggest that all four of us become familiar with the child during the next few months so that the moves aren't too daunting for any of us?”

“I think this could work,” Ember said, a little begrudgingly. The others hummed in agreement.

“Then it is settled,” Imari said, “We will follow Harley’s plan.”

—-

The first two years of the child’s life were mostly uneventful. 

Luckily, Harley knew enough about mortals to instruct the other fae lords in caring for the child adequately, though it had been a surprise to all of them how… stupid, human babies were for the first few years of life.

The Lord of Spring was happy that he got to care for the child for the first few months, mainly because he was terribly worried about how Summer and Autumn would treat them (though he wouldn’t say such a thing out loud, he didn’t want to end up in a fight). Caring for the child at least got him time to learn about what mortal babies needed- he was the expert on the topic of mortals, after all.

Fae children tended to be easy to care for. Mostly they could eat anything, especially nymphs and green men, but mortal children were surprisingly picky, too much or not enough of certain things could result in damage and some things- or parts of things- they couldn’t have at all. Harley couldn’t count the amount of times just in the first week that he’d had to chase away well-intentioned but wildly mis-informed fae who kept trying to feed the poor dear things he couldn’t consume- either yet or not at all. 

Fae children, also, were much more independent much earlier in their development. They were able to run around and start using their powers and start talking- those who could- very early on. Some skipped childhood altogether and appeared to the world fully grown, some stayed children for far longer than a mortal would. It was just the way fae… were. Patton grew steadily though, as human aging was linear, and quickly. 

By the time the solstice came and with it the passing of the child from Spring to Summer, Patton was crawling around already and had managed to endear himself to the vast majority of the spring fae, so Harley deemed this season a roaring success. 

When Patton returned to him the next spring, he had grown so much that Harley barely recognised him. 

He had known, somewhere in his mind, that humans aged much faster than fae did. Humans were mortal, living their lives in what was to fae a mere blink in time. Patton had gotten bigger and stronger, enough to barely start walking (Imari had informed him that some of the Winter fae had started attempting to teach the child to walk in the last few weeks of winter). Patton had grown much more hair now, blond curls that tickled his chin. His eyes were still that brilliant blue that had been before, his smile still just as bright and happy. But the changes were still… startling. 

At least the other fae in the court seemed to love the sweetheart just as much as he did. They’d thrown a revel that lasted three days straight on the equinox and the following days, to celebrate not only the changing of the seasons (which was always celebrated anyway, but never this dramatically) but also Patton’s return to their court. Harley wasn’t certain that the child could quite appreciate the effort they had all put into such a party, being barely a year old. Harley brought him to experience the celebrations regardless, where he was decorated in flower crowns and bracelets and pretty trinkets, Harley had never in his long, immortal life, seen such frivolous giving of gifts from fellow fae, but a little part of it told him that Patton’s smiles were… and would always be… exchange enough for whatever treasures the other fae wished to bestow upon him.

—-

It should come as no surprise that Harley wished to know how Patton was faring in the other courts as well. The first year had been near torture as he forced himself to wait his turn, leaving the others to care for the human child as he had said they should.

This year, as Harley had seen Patton grow up so quickly without him being there for any of it, he couldn’t quite help himself but to check up on him.

He didn’t even really want to hand Patton off to Rhaine when summer began, Patton had said his first words by now, he’d started walking- properly walking now- and laughing, he’d even been able to play with some of the pixies who were present for the deal and fae children who were willing to compromise their own abilities for his sake. Harley didn’t think he could stand not seeing Patton for another three seasons and having him come back in spring twice the size. 

It seemed, funnily, that he wasn’t the only one who thought this. 

When the midsummer celebrations came arond at the height of july, all three other fae lords - and some representatives from each court - arrived by their own volition, none of them invited. Even Imari had braved the heat of high summer to attend. 

Rhaine might have been offended had she not been feeling the exact same way throughout the other seasons, and it was lovely to see that the summer court was just as exuberent about Patton as his own, possibly even more - summer was known for it’s passion, after all. They had all agreed rather quickly that they’d do something similar for Midwinter, as well as Beltane in the spring and Samhein in autumn. 

During Midsummer Harley had danced with Patton alongside some other children from summer who’d avoided such an activity after being told it could harm the little mortal flower, who’s mind and body were both far more delicate than any fae. Harley’s seelie magic wouldn’t be too much for the child, though, he could control it like second nature, Patton hadn’t been hurt, and afterwards had managed to co-erce all four fae lords to join in a circle to dance with him and the summer court. Harley couldn’t remember ever having so much fun before. 

—-

Another year passed and now Patton was two years old.  Harley knew by faerie standards that was hardly long at all, but to humans… was two years in their world a milestone? He wasn’t sure, thought what he was sure about was that Patton’s quick growth made him painfully aware of the passage of time. 

Where before he had glided through the years like a pond skater across water, coasting through and responding to problems as they seemed to come, barely aware that time was passing at all, now he was horribly aware of every second. Every passing minute, day, month, that Patton got older, such a short life that could just flash by if he so much as blinked. Moments he would miss if he looked away. Harley wasn’t scared by many things, but the way he could see Patton’s life flashing before his eyes, as he giggled and talked nonsense with a small gaggle of fae, some pixies and some nymph children, a kelpie child and a sentient wisp of smoke that seemed to enjoy playing hide and seek with the children, he could see that barely toddler as a child, a teen, an adult, hunched over in old age, and finally… Harley didn’t want to think about what came next.

Instead he did what he could. He blessed Patton with the gift of health, a strong heart and strong body that could carry him right through to his death, he touched a finger over Patton’s heart as he gave it and the brush of his hands left the tiniest pattern of freckles shaped as flowers in it’s wake.

The other seasons seemed to notice what he had done, and before he had even lived four years, the mortal child had four gifts. Strength from Spring, beauty from Summer, a power that allowed him to send others to sleep from Autumn and from Winter the power of memories. 

—-

Rhaine had absolutely no idea what she was doing. 

Okay, to be fair, when Harley spoke about mortal customs she tended to doze off and ignore him, sue her, he was boring, Ember would agree. 

But she would admit that in this instance perhaps it would have been more helpful to have listened. 

Patton- the darling mortal child he was- had been talking about ‘human school’ since he found out that it existed. Which was- fine. The flower was human and probably needed to learn human things that they wouldn’t be able to teach him. ‘They’ excluded Harley, because he seemed to know just about everything about mortals, for some reason he found them interesting enough to study. 

All throughout Summer he had been talking about it and gushing about how he was supposed to be going now that he was five years old. As much as Ember liked to tease her about not being able to say no to the mortal child she knew that Ember would barely have been able to say no either. 

Rhaine liked mortals, she was seelie of course, but that didn’t mean she wanted to be entirely surrounded and outnumbered by them. There was a slight difference between playful pranks and games and being completely swamped outside of her own territory. 

But Patton wanted this, which is why she was doing it, Rhaine reminded herself sternly, because Patton was mortal and he wanted to go to the mortal school. 

She stared down a sea of humans, children and their parents all talking and moving and being generally loud in the way humans were. She couldn’t count how many were here, but it was definitely way more than she had been warned. The youngest kids - younger than Patton at least - were with their parents, some of them laughing, far more were yelling or crying whilst their parents tried to get them to quiet. Rhaine took a deep breath, the summer revels were just as loud and rowdy, she could deal with noise, this was fine.

And she was absolutely not about to be a coward and have to admit to Ember than human gathering places were horrible. Because she definitely wasn’t even the slightest bit afraid.

Not that she would try and say that out loud, though. 

Patton, the sweetheart tugged on her hand, bringing her back into the moment. She wore a glamour, which had surprised the child at first, and they had wasted a while fifteen minutes having to reassure him that she was still the same faerie. It wasn’t something she’d anticipated needing to do this morning. 

But now she looked a lot more like she could be Patton’s human mother, long blond curls replacing her blue water-like hair, freckles blooming across her face to match his. She thought she had done well to make herself look human, now she looked around at the other mortal parents present and realised she may not have quite done well enough if all the strange looks and staring were anything to go by. 

They could get through this, she carried a wad of papers that Harley had given her the night before which she needed to get to the ‘principal's office’, wherever in the stars that was, along with Patton himself, then she would leave him in their care until the end of the day, when she would come back to collect him and bring him home.

Easy, simple. Rhaine was a faerie, the lady of her season, she could handle some mortal teachers.

—-

Patton’s first day of school had potentially been the most terrifying day of Rhaine’s life. She would never admit it, but mortals could be frightening when they were attempting to argue and even the meeting with the principal had needed so much more magic than she had ever expected. Harley had sorted out the paperwork as he had promised (Because Rhaine was not doing that) but she’d needed to alter the principals memories multiple times when he had questioned why he had never seen her or Patton before this, she’d needed to twist her words so much that she was dangerously close to outright lies when he’d asked about Patton’s upbringing, Thankfully what the fae had done seemed to count- to whatever higher power that dictated the way they couldn’t lie- as adoption and homeschooling, because otherwise she may not have gotten through that conversation with her sanity intact.

Collecting Patton at the end of the day had been only marginally less stressful. She’s attempted to slightly tone down her glamour this time in hopes to avoid all the staring and blend in a little better, though it apparently didn’t matter. Mortal women loved to gossip about things that were absolutely nobody else’s business. At least three people had attempted to talk to her about ‘the PTA’, whatever that meant, and at least four people had asked for her name and then found her reaction to be ‘rude’ and ‘weird’ when she refused to give it. 

She was pretty sure Harley had explained that one, but again, she hadn’t listened to him and was far too embarrassed now to ask for a refresher, so she’d told them to call her Rai and hoped that they’d just leave her alone from there.

Apparently not, because someone else decided that she really wanted to hear about her neighbour’s sister’s husband’s affair with Sydney (she neither knew nor cared who Sydney was, but whatever). And then another mortal had joined their little circle to begin discussing the apparent bi-weekly scandal caused by Sydney’s six year old kid, which she had discovered seemed to be a hot topic amongst these people. She still didn’t care about Sydney or her son, though, so she had turned them out whilst she waited for Patton to appear amongst the crowd so she could scoop him up and get the hell out of here.

Rhaine had hoped it would get easier as time passed, but, alas, it did not.

She was more than happy to hand Patton off to Ember at the end of September without a warning, though. Because that would be terribly funny for everyone except the Autumn lady, and, being completely honest, Rhaine sometimes lived solely to annoy her friend in the funniest of ways. 

—-

Ember was going to kill Rhaine for this. 

She wasn’t, not actually, because that would land her with an entire court as well as the Seelie Queen at her back and Ember really didn’t have time to deal with that. She did, however, strongly consider murdering the human woman who kept trying to talk to her whilst she was very clearly attempting to exit the one-sided conversation she had never wanted to be part of in the first place.

“Oh my lord, ok, you need to tell me where you got your hair done! Like what is your secret??” This woman practically whined and Ember had half a mind to pull the knife out of her sleeve and stab her tight there and then, the only thing stopping her was the fact that she was pretty certain murdering the mortals would ruin Patton’s day. 

“You need to tell me why you think annoying me is going to get you a better hair-do,” Ember told her, in the same tone, before walking off towards the little snack table that seemed to be the only good part of this whole sky-dammed party and even that wasn’t great, they didn’t even have cream! She heard the woman scoff behind her before muttering something like ‘rude’, but honestly? Ember really didn’t care.

Instead of bothering herself with the annoying humans and letting herself go mad, Ember grabbed a handful of the little icing-covered biscuits they’d called Party Rings and retreated to watch this pitiful excuse for a party (to celebrate another mortal’s Birthday, which was apparently a mortal custom, she thought the kid who’s honour this party was thrown in looked practically miserable, but Ember wasn’t one to pry.)

She was starting to get incredibly bored when finally something interesting happened. That being in the form of one of the smaller kids managing to sneak up on her.

“Trade?” Was all they said, he stood confidently, one hand tucked in a trouser pocket, their hair covered half of their face while the little hat he wore was pulled down over his eyes too. He was holding out a cupcake that had the same volume of icing piped on top as there was sponge along with pink sugar sprinkles.

“For one of the biscuits,” He specified when she didn’t answer, a little too shocked that he’d managed to sneak up on her to speak for a moment. She blinked before glancing at her stash of party rings, she could give him one, she’d be getting more out of it, but the cupcake he was giving in return certainly warranted two. 

“Two biscuits,” She answered, offering her hand to shake, the kid smiled and shook it with the hand that had previously been in his pocket (they were wearing only one glove, how curious) before handing her the cupcake and taking the biscuits and rather elegantly folding down into a seated position next to her. Strange, most children seemed to have a surprisingly strong instinct to avoid her, even more than the adults did. 

What else was curious? That deal had been weak, easily fulfilled and incredibly short lived. What interested her was the thrum of magic she had felt from the child when he’d offered it, which meant that they were almost certainly fae. She wondered if that was why he had come over, and if it was then how long would they sit in silence before he brought it up, after all, she was fairly certain they had been testing her with that deal.

It turned out that fae children were just as impatient as human ones, because they only remained sat in silence for the time it took the child to finish the cookies. 

“You’re like me,” They said quietly, as though it should be a secret, “Aren’t you?”

“Maybe,” She replied with a smirk, “But I think you already know the answer, don’t you? Wasn’t that deal enough evidence for you?”

The child blushed and tried to hide the visible side of his face, “They don’t like me doing them, but it’s a good way to tell.”

“Who might ‘they’ be?” Ember asked.

“Them,” The kid said, gesturing to the room at large. Ember felt a sad little pang in her chest, she didn’t know this faerie kid, had never seen him before in her life, but something in her said that they were important, that he deserved her protection.

“Do you have something I can call you?” Ember asked, instead of putting a voice to any of her feelings.

“You may call me Jam.” They said, Ember wasn’t quick enough to stop the snort of laughter that escaped her.

“Jam?” She asked.

“Yes,” the kid huffed, looking disgruntled, “The mortals tried to call me James, but that ain’t my name, so I go by Jam instead.”

“I didn’t mean to laugh,” Ember admitted, “You may call me Autumn.”

“M’kay,” Jam said, leaning back on the wall and watching the party, they sat in silence for a moment, before Jam turned back to her, “What are you doing here, anyway? You don’t fit in.”

Ember chuckled, this kid was cute, she pointed over to the small gaggle of children, “See the kid over there, with the blonde curls? Next to the one who looks seconds away from crying?”

“Pat and Lo?” Jam said, tilting his head a little, Ember nodded.

“Yes, Pat is our child, and he wanted to come here,” Ember explained, “So I have to stay to watch over him.”

“But… Pat isn’t fae?” Jam said, looking confused, they whispered the word ‘fae’ as though it were a curse,, “And you don’t even look alike,”

“You aren’t human, but you live here, don’t you?” Ember pointed out. Jam seemed to consider for a second before nodding.

“I guess you’re right,” They said, letting the conversation drift away into silence. Ember didn’t mind, in fact she was happy to go back to watching the human children talk together. Patton was still with the boy (Jam had called him Lo) who’s birthday was being celebrated. Despite the sparkly cone hat that sat on the child’s head, he didn’t look too happy to be the centre of attention at this party. 

She wondered what might be wrong with Patton’s friend. To have a party thrown in your honour surely was quite special? But he seemed to back away whenever any of the other children came over to speak with him and Patton (the sweetheart he was) would jump in and gently guide them away. 

Was Lo afraid of people? Or perhaps just these people, because he seemed happy enough to hang around with her Patton. She noticed flinch and cover his ears when a balloon popped (Jam had flinched too, gosh she was a little worried about these kids, though she’d never admit it, Ember had a reputation. Someone made the already far too loud music louder and Jam seemed to curl tighter into a ball, covering his ears.

“How would you like to go outside for a short while,” Ember asked Jam, who nodded just slightly. She glanced around at the mortal parents, unsure of who’s child she was more or less stealing right now, before offering Jam a hand once she concluded no-one was watching. He took it warily and she lead him outside the house where the party was being held and into the front garden, where she found a set of chairs surrounded by plants and got him to sit down. 

“Alright, will you be alright here for a moment if I go back inside?” She asked, Jam nodded again and she smiled, “I will hopefully not take too long.”

—-

Patton had immediately gotten along with Jam, somehow he seemed to have that way with just about everyone he spoke with. Ember couldn’t quite understand it. Lo had been afraid of her, which she’d half expected, so she’d stepped away whilst the three kids talked. Lo and Jam seemed to get along well too, Lo maintaining a surprisingly intelligent conversation for a six year old mortal. Patton had kept hold of Lo’s hand the entire time they were outside, and Ember decided that for now she wouldn’t read more into that. Not unless they were still friends when Patton was a little older.

—-

“Come onnn Lo!” Patton called, tugging on Logan’s hand, “We’re gonna miss the start of the revel!”

“We will not be late,” Logan told him, adjusting his glasses and continuing to walk at a regular pace despite Patton’s tugging, “Because even time within this forest seems to somehow bend to your will.”

“Yeah well, that doesn’t mean I don’t wanna hurry!” Patton said, turning to him and grinning, “Jam is waiting for us!”

“Pat, I suspect we will get there in the same amount of time whether we rush or not,” Logan pointed out, making Patton pout, “And this is the first time I will be attending one of these revels, I would like a chance to get used to the surroundings…”

Patton paused his attempts at tugging Logan ahead and instead fell into pace beside him without letting go of his hand, “Are you… nervous?”

“A little,” Logan admitted, looking away, “Fae have not been known in the past to be kind to strangers, especially not humans, I’m glad Jam will be there, but they are the only faerie I know.”

“You know Emmy, and you know Ray a little,” Patton pointed out with a smile. He remembered when Em had saved Logan from his own uncomfortable birthday party almost six years ago now. Patton knew he had briefly met the Autumn Lady a bunch of times since then. But even so Logan still seemed wary.

“She is the Lady of Autumn, I don’t expect her to protect me.” Logan said, “I’m sure she has more important people to look out for.”

Patton barely managed not to gasp.

“What?” Logan asked, obviously noticing the look on his face.

“Lo, Em personally threatened in front of the entire summer court to excecute anyone who so much as laid a hand on you without your consent, Ray backed her up almost immediately, they’ll protect you,” Patton told him, looking up through his glasses at his taller friend, who stopped walking, staring back at him with wide eyes.

“I- execute??” 

“Yeah, it’s uh- a fae thing- try not to think about it too much,” Patton waved him off, “But both Em and Ray will protect you if you need it, which you shouldn’t because the summer court are all lovely, kay?”

“...Okay Pat, I trust you,” Logan said, squeezing Patton’s hand.

“Great!” Patton smiled, pushing aside a large curtain of leaves to reveal a massive clearing open to the warm summer skies, lit with bonfires, fireflies and the rising full midsummer moon overhead and decorated with garlands of summer flowers and vines, tables made from tree stumps housing food and drink that fae who were just beginning to arrive now and those who hung about the clearing were happily enjoying, “Because we’re here, right on time as always.”

----

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@full-of-roman-angst-trash @reptilianrapscallion420 @your-local-random-dino @cutebisexualmess (if anyone wants to be added let me know!)

[thisisdes]

This is the best thing it could've happen today

*SCREAMS*

I HAVE SO MUCH TO SAY ABOUT THIS

First: the new looks. I love them. Obviously it's the first concept of Luz Dana made, so we expect a more dark season. The fact that she is still wearing Eda's jacket warmth and brake my heart at the same time.

Amity. Just like Luz, her new design it's similar to the first concept, it looks amazing.

I'm wishing to see more of Gus, Willow and Hunter new design, but as for as it seems they're just *chef kiss*. Gus beanie, Willow longer and braid hair, Hunter messy hair... sadly he still got eyebags, plise give him a little rest

AND VEE!! OMG I love her new style, looks so cute. Finally she can be her own persona in the human realm. I'm hoping we could see her relationship with Luz (sisters energy)

Second: Camila is such a badass. She give me Winona in stranger things vibes (I have never seen ST, so I just say based on what I know, correct me if you think I'm wrong). In this poster they're telling us that she will fight with and for this kids with all her strength. High hopes on her.

Last: I don't know about you, but I think this season will star at least a year after the last episode, not only for the kids (teenagers), but for Belos too. It also gives a lot of halloween/autumn vibes, so I'm specting something in that direction.

I CAN'T WAIT OCTOBER TO COME!!!

[aeoki]

High and Low: The Centre of the Earth - Chapter 17

Location: Australian Land (Night) Characters: Mitsuru & NEGI

Season: Autumn Writer: Akira

< Early the next morning while the sun has yet to rise. At a certain place in Australia. >

NEGI: “I’m sorry, Anzu.”

“I was asleep so I don’t really know the details, but I heard my little brother caused some trouble?”

“He betrayed your trust… I’m really sorry. Have you come to hate me too?”

“If you have, then that makes me sad.”

“............”

“But let me make one small excuse.”

“My little brother had nothing.”

“All the things a normal child should have, he had none.”

“He was born from horrible parents because of a stupid goal.”

“He didn’t get to go to school, didn’t get to feel the warmth of his parents nor did he get to have fun with his friends every day. He was raised in an environment not knowing a thing, all alone, away from everything else.”

“The only one who cared deeply for him was me.”

“Due to reasons, we were raised separately and we actually didn’t talk to each other much when I was alive.”

“He was overjoyed to miraculously meet me, his older sister. He cherished me very much.”

“I wasn’t able to do anything special for him, but those ordinary days where we met and talked were probably sparkling treasure in his eyes.”

“That’s why I was killed.”

“And he swore revenge.”

“He decided that would be his sole purpose in life. I’m sure, he must have been a laidback simpleton in your eyes, though.”

“Within those depths is nothing but a cold desire for revenge.”

“He decided he would use everything he had for that reason, to avenge me.”

“But someone like him, who was cold and dry, met you guys at Yumenosaki.”

“He received warm things from you, Anzu, and the other idols.”

“What he wanted was a bright and sparkling youth.”

“That’s why I can’t help but hope.”

“I wished for a future where he could forget about me and his revenge, one where he could live as an ordinary child.”

“I wished for his life to be filled with happiness.”

“I truly wish for him to be happy from the bottom of my heart. …I’m Hitsugi’s older sister, after all.”

“But he couldn’t get rid of his desire for revenge. Just like what happened this time, even if it meant he had to throw away everything else – he still acted for that reason.”

“He lost self-control and went wild. He’ll probably end up making a fatal mistake in the near future.”

“He might die like me. But I don’t want that.”

“He shouldn’t dedicate his life to someone like me who’s already dead. That’s just so pitiful.”

“So, please, Anzu. I know I’m not in any position to ask you, but… please, stop him.”

“Please stay at his side and make sure he doesn’t stray off the path any more than he already has.”

“If that’s impossible, then you should stop being involved with us.”

“...I’m glad I met you. You’re one of the few people aside from my brother who understands me. An ally. A friend.”

“But people will think you’re weird if you talk to someone who’s already dead. So if you think it’s impossible to continue doing that, then please, forget about us.”

“Go back to your blissful days, Anzu.”

“That’s probably what’s best for the both of us.”

Mitsuru: Hm~... Nee~ chaaaan…♪

NEGI: “Woah.”

“W-What’s up with him? He’s rubbing his head into my stomach.”

Mitsuru: …………♪

NEGI: “That’s cute. He’s probably half asleep.”

“My little brother is still a fool but he has always tried to act more mature than what his age suggests. It’s the first time someone has treated me like this.”

“I feel kinda grateful.”

“There, there… But I’m not your older sister.”

“I don’t know how to coddle you, either. If you’re gonna do that, do it to Anzu Nee-chan, okay?”

Mitsuru: …………?

Huh? Was I asleep?

NEGI: “Good morning. It seems the people who approached my little brother really don’t want him to know where they live.”

“They put us to sleep and then abandoned us along with the bus in the middle of nowhere. Those who are awake are checking our current location with the map right now.”

“Well, teleportation doesn’t exist, so it doesn’t matter where we are. It’s definitely impossible for us to get to our destination, anyway.”

“I’m sure no one wants to shrivel up in the wild here, so we should start heading to our destination, even if it’s at a slow speed.”

“This is my brother’s job though. It’s the “producer’s” responsibility to see to it that the idol reaches their destination in one piece.”

“Let’s hang in there and do our best.”

“We’re still on the school trip until we go home, after all.”

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[peace-coast-island]

Diary of a Junebug

Celebrating a fall harvest at Milkcloud Farm

It’s veggie season at Milkcloud Farm, which means autumn is in full swing. Kati and Millie have been busy with the farm and Kati Ceramics, both are going well now that the sisters have worked out a routine.

Kati took the plunge by opening the physical shop and though it took some time, she felt that it was the right move. She has really grown as an artist since joining Millie at the farm. Along with her usual whimsical animal planters and mugs, she’s branched out to different styles, starting with the Forest Path planters. She said it’s been a huge step out of her comfort zone that was necessary. Although she enjoyed making her animal friends, there were times when she felt stuck in a rut, which was why she moved in the first place. After Forest Path was well received despite it being a departure from her well known whimsical style, Kati was inspired to branch out event more as well as finally set up a physical shop.

And she’s not the only one who’s been putting herself out there. Alexi’s done the same and now she’s made her big break as a voice actor. I don’t know how she can handle a busy schedule while streaming regularly, especially now that she’s traveling a lot. After spending most of her life living in fear thanks to a certain someone, I’m glad that she’s slowly healing and able to live life.

Along with Alexi, Tiffani’s come to join us too. Not too long ago Tiffani popped up on Alexi’s stream and they talked about “Monagate”, which has been a hot topic recently. Basically, a model pretty much shot herself in the foot by saying that disabled people don’t deserve to exist because it’s uncomfortable. Sounds like a nice person, right? Hard to believe that Alexi was friends with her back then, though Mona dropped her when Alexi became an amputee.

The stream was interesting as Alexi and Tiffani talk about the dangers of ableism. Both had the unfortunate experience of being treated differently when they became disabled - in their cases it was the result of someone else’s actions intending to harm them - so there some people who think they deserved what happened to them. Similar to Tiffani, Alexi was hurt by a classmate, a rich one to be specific, and the kind whose family was able to buy his way out of trouble.

When Alexi was 16, she was severely injured in a car accident caused by a drunken classmate. He was a popular kid on the football team who for some reason invited Alexi to a party after the big game, something she had been hoping for. The party didn’t go so well as he got drunk and insisted on driving her home when she wanted to leave early. The others knew he was in bad shape but didn’t argue. So he crashed into a tree and nearly left Alexi to die while he came out with minor injuries. Both of Alexi’s legs were broken and she had to have her right leg amputated. As for the guy, he threatened her to keep quiet, as did the rest of the town.

Everything changed for Alexi after that as no one, not even her own family, saw her as a person. She described her friends as running hot and cold, pitying her one minute, treating her like she had the plague the next. Mona went from being a close friend to a distant stranger. While things were rough with her family, at least they tried their best and so they were pretty much the only ones there for her.

Alexi left town after high school in hopes of escaping her past. Unfortunately her tormenter and his gang continued to harass her. So naturally she felt helpless- after all, no one did anything back then, why would they now? For all she knew, they felt that she deserved what happened to her. I hate that they made her feel that way.

Finally, a couple years ago, the threats and taunts suddenly stopped. Alexi later found out that the guy was killed in self defense by an ex. A while after, Alexi slowly revealed her story bit by bit, and she found out she wasn’t alone. Like with the “Monagate” situation, Alexi was initially reluctant to tell her story but after thinking it over and being encouraged by friends and family, she decided to say what she needed to say. As expected, there has been some pushback from certain people who claim that she’s either lying or needs to get over the past - whichever one is the most convincing for whatever weak-ass argument they’re trying to make.

Some people might find Alexi blunt with a bit of a chip on her shoulder but honestly, given what she’s been through and the kind of people she’s had to deal with, I can’t blame her. It’s one of those things where even if you try to remain impartial, it’s pretty clear who’s in the wrong. Besides, they’re the ones harassing her constantly and yet they complain that she’s holding grudges. As important as it is for Alexi to tell her story and face her fears head on, she has admitted multiple times that it’s exhausting being seen just as “that girl with the missing leg who’s an unfortunate victim of some rich guy who got away with it”. Contrary to what some might try to convince her, her disability is just a part of her life, something she’s finally accepted long ago, and that’s just it.

Regarding the Mona situation, she actually messaged Alexi, blaming her for her own downfall, which is ridiculous. They haven’t spoken to each other in almost 16 years and then Mona randomly comes out, calls Alexi a bunch of ableist slurs and tells her to die - yikes. Alexi says that if she got a message like that a couple years ago it would’ve been a different story but by now she’s just like whatever. As terrible as it sounds, it’s just some whiny person throwing a childish tantrum. Alexi initially didn’t want to add to the dumpster fire by revealing the message but her brother felt that it was necessary.

Up until now, the general public has never heard of Mona. Tiffani’s been a model for almost a decade and while she has never worked directly with her, she has heard things about her. It pretty much started when Mona was selected for a big gig alongside Tiffani’s friend Dana, who’s quite active on social media. The story was Mona and Dana became friends instantly and Mona was hyping her up since Dana’s well known in the modeling industry. Then Mona found out Dana is disabled - not that she was hiding it - and instantly dropped her. Dana confronted her about her sudden change in attitude, so Mona lied by telling her the agency didn’t want Dana because of her “condition”, which then got her agent mad.

Word got out and Mona went on a rant on social media about how it’s her right to not be around disabled people because it makes her uncomfortable. She rightfully got criticized, which led to her digging an even bigger hole around herself and accusing people of taking Dana’s side because she’s more well known. Dana has said all she needed to say, refusing to add to the already flaming mess Mona started. Tiffani admitted that she’s dealt with similar people who steered clear from her when they saw her use a cane, though thankfully none who have blown up as badly as Mona did.

One good thing though is that the incident is opening up for some much needed discussions regarding disability and ableism. It’s sad to think that a lot of people have had to deal with someone like Mona. You really can’t feel bad for someone who ruined their own livelihood by choosing to be a shitty person.

Kati and Alexi share a lot in common, which is how they became good friends. They both were the kind of people who tried to not be an inconvenience to others, even if it meant being a doormat. Yeah, I know the feeling. For years they act the way they do because it’s “expected” so the second they are confronted with something unexpected, it somehow feels wrong. That’s not to say their families were bad or anything, it more has to do with societal expectations.

For Kati, art was sort of her escape. Then as she got older she became interested in ceramics and grew to love the craft. Pursuing ceramics full time was a huge leap for her because she wasn’t sure if she was taking the right step. She said that was the first time she actively chose not to listen to the voices of doubt discouraging her from making Kati Ceramics a reality. Now here she is, living life as an artist, a life she wouldn’t be living if she had given in to the doubt.

Alexi’s been super busy with auditions, recording sessions, and conventions, while still streaming regularly. She mostly does gaming streams, which are fun to watch, as well as chill and hangout types where she gets into more deeper topics. She and Emma have done some streams together and became they’re in the same line of work, they cross paths more than ever. I’m glad that they both finally got their big breaks as VAs as they really are talented.

It’s been good to see Tiffani again as she’s usually super busy too. Since the entourage disbanded years ago we’ve been slowly losing touch with most of the members. A lot of them were personally recruited by Jamie - Tiffani being one of them - and at the time they were just starting out. Now a lot of them have gone on to become super successful, I’d say about half of them have made strides in their career while the other have moved on to other endeavors and are doing well with that. I wonder how often Jamie keeps tabs on the others.

Now that fall is here, it’s time for Milkcloud Farm to change gears. While they’re mainly known for their ice cream, the farm also sells a lot of fresh produce throughout the year. This is their busy season as there’s a lot of veggies to harvest. Since there’s always more than enough to share, Millie likes to invite friends for a fall harvest feast so that’s why we’re here.

Along with picking veggies, Kati has been showing us around her studio, which has undergone a makeover since I last visited. She also showed us the physical shop and it looks really nice. For now the team’s equally dividing time to run both the farm and the shop so that’s why there’s not too much going on there at the moment as they can only spare at most two people over there. Kati hopes in the near future to hire some people to manage the physical shop but for now that’ll have to be pushed to the back burner. Right now they’re managing all right so that’s why it’s not as much as a priority at the moment.

The fun part was cooking up a storm with what we had. There’s so many things you can do with vegetables, the only downside being that they go bad easily, especially when you forget about them. Since I started cooking on a regular basis, I found myself gravitating towards veggie dishes.

Yes, I was the good kid who ate her vegetables. Though I think part of it comes from being raised by a mom who knows how to season food as well as properly cook veggies.

Being at a farm means having access to fresh milk and eggs too. Ever since my mom started giving me fresh eggs from her friend who keeps chickens, I’ve been spoiled. My mom says that store brought eggs are too watery compared to her friend’s farm eggs and she’s right. Once you go fresh you can’t go back. I like eggs but I’m not the biggest egg person but I found myself enjoying them more, but only if they’re the farm ones.

As for the milk, I’ve been told fresh is better for that as well so we’ve been using that for cooking. That’s pretty much what I only use cow’s milk for nowadays but oat milk’s usually an acceptable substitute for that so I rarely use it. And along with fresh milk, there’s also cream and butter, both which are good.

For me, chopping vegetables is either mindlessly relaxing or super tedious. In this case it was the former luckily because there was a lot of prep work. However the recipes themselves weren’t overly complicated or anything.

I made potato soup, except with actual milk instead of oat, which honestly didn’t make too much of a difference, which I consider a good thing. The fresh veggies really do make a difference and elevate the dish. Alexi made butternut squash soup, a popular family recipe that she once shared online during a cook along stream with her mom. Millie baked mini quiches while Tiffani put together a veggie medley butter curry pot pie. Kati, using the freshly caught fish from the camp, made a sushi and sashimi platter to go with the veggies. Daisy Jane made tempura batter from scratch and fried up some meat and veg.

All in all it was a pretty good feast. The weather was super nice so that made harvesting vegetables a lot more enjoyable. There’s nothing like food to bring friends together, especially those who you don’t see as often. It also seems fitting to kick off the fall season with something a bit more chill after busy time of change and transition.

[adorerdraco]

It’s Only Quidditch ✧ Draco x Slytherin!Reader

Request: can i please request you and draco being in slytherin and dating for a while and you two are on the quidditch team with him so maybe you two are in a match together but you get hurt and he gets worried and has to win the game and visits you after and maybe even wrecks the person who hurt you hehe just fluff and angst

AU AROUND 6TH YEAR NO VOLDY

Warnings: angry!draco, vengeful!draco, VIOLENCE, kinda graphic details like blood and injuries, lil bit of angst

Words: 3.9K (love making these long for no reason)

A/N: ANGRY DRACO IS SO HOT IM SORRY WOW BUT I HOPE THIS IS GOOOOD PLEASE ENJOY MY MADE UP CHARACTER AND MY SUPER LONG QUIDDITCH GAME THAT CONFUSED ME AFTER A WHILE OF TRYING TO WRITE LMAO and i made gif :)

November had begun and with it came the new season of quidditch at Hogwarts along with very poor weather and over-bundling nerves. Tensions had always gotten high around this time of the year amongst the teams and all animosity between the house’s respective players was on the forefront as the competition was building. It was like clockwork every year; captain’s starting strenuous training schedules, begging Snape to help book the stadium even if it was already occupied, spying on other teams to figure out their strengths and weaknesses. Not to mention the arguments that would happen regularly in between the first couple of games when you and your teammates would be accused of cheating or using dangerous and illegal moves. Which did happen to be true most of the time.

It was safe to say that it was the most eventful time of the year, and as suffocating as it sometimes got - you looked forward to it every time the new term started. It was in quidditch that you found yourself feeling the freest in, zipping around the stadium in a flash of green with the wind blowing through your hair and crisp autumn air biting at your cheeks. But most notably, it was in quidditch that you met Draco Malfoy and had quickly evolved from teammates to friends, to him now being your boyfriend.

You made Slytherin’s team your second year as a Chaser, a shiny new broom being given to you on the first day of scheduled training when Lucius Malfoy had made a generous donation that came along with a new platinum blond seeker. With the two of you being the latest additions to the teams, your captain, Marcus Flint, had decided to leave the dirty work for the two of you to do in the downtime every one else was able to enjoy. Marcus never changed that as the years went on.

So you and Draco would be sent off to other teams’ practices nearly every other day or week, depending on how secure Flint was feeling, both of you huddling closely together for sometimes hours behind the thick wooden benches as you watched and studied tactics with conversations in between. You would joke around a lot and call him your partner in crime which he would always roll his eyes to and make a snide and playful comment about even if he secretly loved hearing it. And the two of you stayed partners in crime for a while, neither of you ever making any move towards the other besides lingering touches and longing looks, and very rarely, a shy compliment.

It wasn’t until last year when you were hiding behind the bleachers, bored out of your mind watching Ravenclaw have a flawless run through around the stadium when you were graced with the dumbest idea.

“They’re playing good today,” you drawled out, “too good that it’s boring.”

“You reckon they studied so hard and found the key to quidditch?” He snickered as he played around with a pebble on the ground with his wand.

“We should help them out,” you suggested as Draco turned to raise a puzzled eyebrow at you. “Prepare them for the unexpected, nothing too crazy.”

You took out your wand from your pocket and pointed it towards one of their Beaters that was sitting idly by on their broom, a faint “confundus” leaving your lips that caused the broom to jerk swiftly to the side and nearly topple over its rider.

“You’re a genius,” Draco laughed quietly, repositioning himself so that he was right beside you with his wand directed out into the field. He spotted one of the bludgers flying towards the same Beater and instead of colliding with the bat, he used a charm to direct it into the back of their broom and then doubled it back around to try and hit one of the passing by Chaser’s that moved at the very last minute. 

You were a giggling mess, gripping tightly onto Draco’s arm as you watched everyone begin to look around wildly for the wild bludger with panicked expressions. What either of you didn’t realize in the middle of your joyed hysterics and Draco’s smugness for causing the angelic sounds, was that the bludger was flying idly still in front of the bleacher’s as his wand was still trained on it without moving it around anymore, his focus completely gone and concentrated on you.

It wasn’t until you heard someone yell out a, “Is that Malfoy and Y/L/N back there again?!” That made you get up with a sudden jolt, grabbing onto your accomplice’s hand as you ran towards the set of stairs that descended out of the stands. All you heard was distant angry insults and threats quickly fading out of ear-shot while you ran, laughing uncontrollably alongside Draco with his hand still tightly gripped in yours. 

When you finally reached the entrance of the empty courtyard of the castle with flustered cheeks and wheezing chuckles, you looked down at your joined hands at the same time he did and after a few seconds of realization and lingering adrenaline, you quickly moved into each other with a yearning kiss that changed everything from that day forward.

Draco stood beside you while you sat on a bench outside the locker room, your head resting lazily on the side of his leg while his fingers carded soothingly through your hair. Marcus was pacing in front of you, using his broom as a walking and pointing stick whenever he wanted to add any calculated words to his very hostile pep-talks that left everyone feeling more irritated and stressed.

Today was the last game of the season and the most important, it was the game that ended the season with a shimmering Inter-House Quidditch Cup and it just so happened to be against Gryffindor, making the stakes much higher than they already were. The matches against Gryffindor were by far, the most dangerous as they weren't afraid to play roughly either if push came to shove. The determination to beat each other and to win was critical on both sides and the day always ended with some sort of injuries.

“I don’t care how dirty we have to play today,” Flint fumed to the team, “I don’t care how many fouls we get, as long as we win.”

“Relax, Flint,” you sighed deeply. “We have the best players on our team and we’ve been working our arses off all season, we’ll be fine.”

“Still, I want to see blood out there,” he muttered back, walking towards the entrance of the field as Madam Hooch started calling your team out to start.

You stood up with a huff, Draco frowning when he noticed how tense you looked when your eyes worriedly met his.

“All right, love?”

“I'm just nervous,” you shrug, “I don’t want to mess up.”

The silver-haired boy moved to stand in front of you, placing two strong hands on either side of your arms to stand you in place so that he would be the only thing your wandering eyes were able to focus on.

“You are the best Chaser that Slytherin has ever had, no, that Hogwarts has ever had and I know for a fact you’re going to do amazing out there,” he cups your face with care, brushing a few stray hairs out of your face as he spoke. “You’ve got this.”

He pressed an encouraging kiss onto your forehead and then your lips, smiling at you supportively before taking your hand and hurriedly walking the two of you out into the field where the match was about to start.

Almost the whole school had shown up in an overcrowded sea of red and gold for Gryffindor. There were red sparks and small fireworks of lions that were charmed to roar when the animal would open its mouth. On one end of the stands, however, was the entire student body of Slytherin that was throwing green and silver ribbons and sparklers from their wands, yelling loudly in support as if their life depended on it. Over the rails, they had thrown down a large poster of a snake that moved around sleekly over large green words that read, “SLYTHERIN FOR THE WIN.”

Rain was lightly drizzling from the grayed dense clouds above, a sharp chill in the air from an approaching winter that always seemed to give the worst weather during the last couple of games of the year. You didn’t mind it since the cold had always felt nice against your sweaty skin during the game and it served like a small revitalizing shock that gave you a surge of energy to push forward with. 

Madam Hooch quickly went over the rules, set free the bludgers, and the snitch, forced the two captains, Wood and Flint, to shake hands and by the time she had counted down from three to one - brooms were soared into the sky with such speed it looked like a tornado had formed as she threw the quaffle up into the air.

A roar of cheers erupted from beside you as you got ahold of the quaffle, dashing past your House while you headed straight towards the Gryffindor’s goal post and managed to make the first shot in within the first five minutes of the game putting you at 10-0. You spotted Draco flying around above, smiling down brightly at you with triumph that only fueled your confidence as you darted forward to catch the ball again. You were, just as Draco had said, the best Chaser on the team and in all of the school. You were fast, agile, and smart when it came down to it and you were the reason why your team had easily wracked up 40 points with thirty minutes down in the match. Marcus was always trailing behind you with focus, shoving anyone who tried to get to you or pulling them back by their robes that landed Slytherin a couple of fouls throughout. 

You didn’t like to play dirty, but when Katie Bell had rammed into your side either accidentally or on purpose, it knocked the quaffle out of your hands and into one of their other Chaser’s, Rowan Rees, a muscular and tall seventh-year boy that had made the team that same year. With Katie still closely trying to cut you off, you veered sharply into her with your shoulder before breaking away from her and heading towards your goal post where they were trying to shoot. 

“ILLEGAL PUSHING FROM Y/L/N, FOUL AGAINST SLYTHERIN!” 

You rolled your eyes at the announcer, completely ignoring the boo’s that had filled the air as you whizzed past the other houses even though it was you who got hit first. Just as Rees had raised his arm to score, you flew over him, swooping your arm underneath your broom until you felt the quaffle back in your palm and ripped it from his grasp. The match was becoming more intense by the second, Gryffindor was promptly catching up in points because of the penalties they were awarded from the illegal moves your team was making and it left you feeling more pressured that it was nearly a tie now, Flint reminded you of that every chance he zoomed past you.

Unbeknownst to you, Draco was watching you cautiously from across the field most of the game when he noticed how close everyone was trying to get to you. You didn’t see the way you were almost tugged back multiple times or were missed by inches when someone was about to push you. Or how the Beaters were deliberately directing the bludgers in your direction. You also didn’t see how irked you had made Rees with your constant scoring and with the sporadic few times you had cut him off or almost bumped into him - but your boyfriend did, and he was much more focused on your safety now than the Golden Snitch he or Potter hasn’t spotted yet. Instead of searching for it, he was purposefully maneuvering himself around in front of the other Chasers to throw them off their focal point towards you so that you would have a clearer path to fly through.

He watched as you pulled your broom upwards to try and twist away from the area but Rees had reached out and pulled at your ankle, sending you out of your seat as the quaffle fell while you tried to rebalance yourself. That was all the encouragement the blond needed when he hurtled down into the mess, kicking at the back of Rees’ broom and sending him quickly spinning on a dive before he could try and move any further. 

“FOUL AGAINST REES AND MALFOY FOR KICKING AND TUGGING!”

“MALFOY!” Flint roared as he flew past, “Potter’s spotted the snitch! This isn’t your place, get out of here, NOW!”

And when he looked up, sure enough, Harry was going around desperately with an arm outstretched towards the small glint of gold that was moving too fast. 

“Go, I’m fine!” You shouted out to him when you flew back up with the ball back in your arms.

It was like slow motion when he forced himself to leave your surroundings, everything around him was moving fast and intensely with everyone screaming wildly that he couldn’t think straight. In a daze, he haphazardly sped towards Harry but noticed the panicked look on the seeker’s face when he had lost sight of it again which directed his attention right back to you. You were right in front of the Gryffindor goal post, arm stretched over your head and releasing the quaffle with a harsh throw.

“Y/L/N MAKES THE GOAL, TEAMS ARE AT A TIE-”

It wasn’t until the very last minute that everyone, including you, had realized the flash of red that came hurtling into your side at full speed, Rees colliding so loudly with you that it echoed around the stadium in a powerful clang and crack.

Draco watched in horror as you were thrown off your broom, your now unconscious body falling like a rag doll with a speed that sent his stress levels into overdrive. He had never pushed down on his broom so fast, immediately abandoning his spot to bolt towards you even as Marcus was screaming at him to not go. 

A few feet above the ground and before you met it, he managed to loop his arm around your waist and heave you onto the front of his broom with a slight struggle as it was now raining hard and clouding his vision. He saw Madam Pomfrey and Mcgonagall rushing into the field, hands holding tightly onto their hats as they worriedly rushed towards the area where your broom had fallen and where Draco was hovering over with you. 

“TEAMS ARE TAKING A 10 MINUTE TIME OUT!”

Marcus had flown down towards him, face twisted in fury and annoyance as he approached. 

“Is there a reason you’re not being a seeker, today?” He spits, “because I’ve been seeing you do everything but your job.”

“My bloody girlfriend just got knocked out!” Draco seethed at him. “I’m not going back into the game, I’m going with her to the hospital wing.”

“Like hell you are,” Flint scowled, “if you leave, you'll forfeit us the game. If you stay and let Potter catch that Snitch so it’ll be over quicker, I will personally make sure that this is your last year on the team. You’re going to win this for us.”

“Mr. Malfoy!” McGonagall called up to him, waving her arms hastily. “She needs to go to the infirmary, immediately!”

The two Slytherins were staring each other down aggressively as Draco contemplated the threat he was just given. There was nothing more he wanted to do than to throw a hex at Flint and leave with you, but he just swallowed thickly and nodded at him before descending towards the ground and letting you off carefully into the hands of Madam Pomfrey. A surge of fear ran through his body when he finally saw you clearly; a harsh red mark was making its way up to your neck, the corner of your bottom lip had split and doubled in size, there was a small scratch on your cheekbone. It made him feel queasy, but he tore his eyes away from you and hopped back onto his broom while glaring angrily at Marcus and the distant group of huddled Gryffindor’s. 

He was blinded in rage when the match resumed and even more enraged when Flint had cheered loudly when the announcer granted Slytherin a penalty for the injury Rees gave you, allowing them basically to get a free score in against Gryffindor. Draco let his eyes wander around for the snitch for the first time that day and he could hear his heart thundering in his eardrums in distress as the rain continued to make his search worse. All he wanted was to get out of the game to check up on you, and then he'd come back to the stadium to throw his fists into Rees’ face with maybe a few hits in on Marcus.

Just as he was losing hope, he saw a flash of gold whiz past him with a loud buzzing that shocked him into alertness. He didn’t care that catching the snitch would win the game, or the cup, or give him all the glory, no - this was his ticket out. He dived towards it with his arm outstretched, hand thrashing around in the wind as he tried to eagerly catch it. In seconds, Harry was right beside him, bumping him with his shoulder to try and throw him off the path but Draco only pushed back harder. There was a flurry of shouting as everyone watched, the announcer was yelling into the mic about the seekers going head-to-head, bludgers were flying past him. 

It was pure chaos and urgency, Draco could feel the fluttering of its wings beneath his palm and when Harry pushed into him one more time, he felt the coldness of the Snitch get trapped into his enclosed hand, the vibration of its wings sending a current of relief up his arm that spread throughout his whole body as he soared up into the sky while brandishing it to the schools’ painfully watchful eyes.

“MALFOY HAS CAUGHT THE SNITCH, WINNING SLYTHERIN THIS YEAR’S INTER-HOUSE QUIDDITCH CUP!”

Draco hurriedly made his way down to the field where the rest of his house was pooling into, celebrating proudly and calling out for him to praise, but when he landed on the ground and was met with half of the Gryffindor team including Rowan Rees - all his wrath came flooding back into him. 

Angelina, another Gryffindor Chaser, had nudged Rowan with her shoulder, pointing towards the Slytherin Prince that was stalking towards them.

“Malfoy,” Rees started bitterly, “sorry about the girlfriend, I was only trying to knock the quaffle out her hands.”

“After she had already thrown it?” He glowered, walking closer up to the boy that was beginning to straighten himself out and flex. “Looked a little personal seeing how she was dragging you through the dust the whole game.”

“Accidents happen, mate,” Rees shrugged, “it’s only quidditch, you won didn’t you? Maybe you should be thanking me for giving you that extra push to win the game.”

A clear line had been crossed and everyone who was listening knew it. But before Rowan could say anything to try and drag himself out of the hole he had just dug himself into, he was being tackled into the ground with Draco above him throwing punches wherever he could land them. There was loud hooting and laughing coming from the Slytherins that gathered around the fight, cheering loudly for their House superior.

Rees was thrashing around on the ground, trying frantically to throw off the extremely infuriated boy that was repeatedly pounding into his face with bloodied and bruised fists. Oliver Wood ran up to the sudden brawl, Fred and George following closely behind him as they all started trying to rip the fighting boy’s apart from each other. Oliver had gotten Draco off briefly, allowing Rees to try and get a hit in but it was dodged at the last second as the blond quickly leaped up to his feet. The fight immediately ended when a muddy shoe had collided with Rowan’s jaw and Draco stepped back satisfied with the damage he had done, roughly shrugging off the grip Oliver still had on his arm.

“It’s only quidditch, right?” He spat venomously from above the Gryffindor who was holding his now battered face in pain. “That’ll teach you from putting your hands on a woman too.”

“Mr. Malfoy!” Madam Hooch bellowed as she broke through the crowd in a frenzy. “50 points from Slytherin, go wait outside Professor Snape’s office for further punishment, go right now!”

Draco did go, and instantly, but he didn’t go down to the dungeons to hear about the lengthy detention that he knew he was going to get and the scolding for being reckless and stupid. His feet carried his sore body up the many stairs that led to the hospital wing, his pace picking up swiftly when he saw the large double doors of the infirmary ajar and he was able to hear a faint and familiar voice speaking indistinctly. 

He threw open the doors, walking straight in as if he owned the place and ignored Pomfrey’s requests for him to leave as he made a beeline towards your hunched figure that was facing away from him. 

“I need to see her,” he said to the nurse quickly when she stopped in front of him. “I’ll leave soon, please.”

At the sound of his voice, you hastily turned around in your spot to face him, a yelp escaping your lips for moving too quickly through your injuries. Pomfrey stepped out of the way with a sigh allowing Draco to jog over to you.

“I’m going to kill him,” he scowled when he reached you. You were wearing a sling, a deep purple and yellowed bruise quickly set itself over the side of your arm and the same cuts he saw from earlier were still scattered over your features. His fingers ghosted over your skin and he let out a deep shaky exhale of anxiousness before moving his thumb up to graze your cheek tenderly.

“What happened to you?” You asked quietly in shock when you noticed his mud-splattered clothes and tattered fists. 

“Long story,” he drawled. “Don’t worry about me, are you okay?”

“I’m okay,” you muttered with a slight shrug that made you whimper lightly. “Did we win?”

He nodded quietly, his eyes still scanning sadly over your face with a frown. “I swear, I’m going to kill him.”

“Only if I can help,” you sniggered faintly, trying to make light of the situation and succeeding in doing so when you saw he had cracked a small smile. With his hand still on your cheek, he bent down to press a firm kiss on the top of your hair and then warmly on the side of your mouth that wasn’t bleeding.

“I’ll just let you finish him off then,” he mulled amusingly when he pulled away.

“Finish him off?”

The doors of the hospital wing were thrown open again, a sea of red flowing inside as they carried in a pummeled Rowan with a busted lip, bloodied nose, black eye, and deeply bruised jaw. You looked briskly between Rees and Draco, both of them staring daggers at each other and it rapidly clicked in your mind why your boyfriend had looked like he just walked through a battlefield in your absence.

“Oh.”